Next Level
by RonRon100
Summary: John Cena and AJ Lee are very good friends. Great friends in fact. Would they be daring enough to take things to the next level if that was even possible? What would happen if a scandal was involved? Would things change for the better or for worse? Follows 10/22/12 Raw and beyond. R
1. Introduction

**Hey guys, it's Ronnie and I'm back with a new story! The inspiration just hit me and I just started writing and writing and, well you get the point. This is a John Cena and AJ Lee story(CenLee) and it kinda follows what's happening on TV as well, but moreso outside the ring and a few twists thrown in as well, so sit back and hope you enjoy this fic (:**

**October 21, 2012 10:01pm**  
John Cena rubbed his arm in slight pain as he cleared out his locker for the night after the show was over. They were doing a house show that tonight, and John so desperately wanted to compete in a match for the fans. As luck would have it though, this just wasn't going to be his night. Sadly the doctors wouldn't clear the Cenation Leader for action, which meant he could kiss his WWE Championship match with CM Punk at Hell in a Cell goodbye.

As he finished packing his bag and tying up his sneakers, a dark presence shadowed the room and in walked one of his closest friends: the Viper, Randy Orton.

"Hey John, where you going in such a rush?" Randy asked, as he watched John throw a few more belongings in his bag in a hurried motion. John shook his head at the Viper's question. "No rush Randy, just want to get out of here tonight, ya know?"

Surprised at his friend's response, Randy quirked an eyebrow. "You, leave a show hurriedly? I thought you were always the first one to arrive and the last to leave. Even at house shows," he added. "Well not tonight Rand, I got places to be," John quipped.

"Well look, if you're interested, some of the guys and I are going down to one of the local bars down the street called No Holds Barred. You want to come as well instead?" Randy asked. John shook his head firmly. "Thanks but no thanks," he answered.

Randy sighed at John's lackadaisical response. Ever since the divorce was finalized, Randy had noticed John's lack of communication with many others as well as some type of dissatisfaction with where he was. Was he worried about losing his top spot on the WWE Empire to Ryback, maybe the lack of motivation to compete or something? Randy couldn't quite put a finger on it, but he definitely wanted John to go out with the guys and live a little.

"At least tell me you'll drop by for a short time then," Randy said, as he grabbed a scratch piece of paper and scribbled down the address of the place the Superstars were headed to. John reached over and put the piece of paper in his shorts pocket. "I'll consider it," John said, before allowing Randy to turn on his heel and saunter out the room to go find the rest of the guys.

Once Randy left, John took the paper out and ripped it to shreds, throwing the pieces in the trash. 'I'm living more now than you could ever think,' John thought to himself.  
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AJ Lee packed the remains of her things into her small suitcase and bag, satisfied with the results of tonight's house show, and it being a huge success. With a sweet smile on her face and earphones blasting her theme song 'Let's Light It Up' at full force, nothing could dampen her mood. As she finished picking up the last of her belongings, a knock came at her door. Skipping over to the door, AJ opened it and revealed the one person who could cast a dark cloud over anybody's sunny mood: Vickie Guerrero.

"What do you want Vickie?" AJ asked, annoyed by the Guerrero's presence.

"Don't use that sarcastic nasty tone with me little girl!" Vickie responded with a definitive angry tone. She was clearly disgusted with the Board of Directors' decision to name AJ the GM at Raw 1000, and to this point, she was still trying to run her out of power.

To this, AJ rolled her eyes and put on a sarcastic smile. AJ was a master at playing different emotional faces, and the face she wore now just screamed in a Vince tone, 'get the hell out of my office!'

"Don't roll your eyes either! I just came to tell you that Punk is still short an opponent for Hell In A Cell, and that you should recommend him facing Dolph Ziggler for the title," Vickie snarled at the Geek Goddess.

AJ pretended to ponder it for a second, before replying quite simply "No."

"NO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?! YOU CAN'T JUST SKIP OUT ON SOMEONE'S TALENT LIKE THAT!" Vickie was on a screeching rampage. AJ just gathered her bags, turned out the lights, and skipped out the door. "See you later Vickie!" AJ called out. "You're gonna regret the day you said no to me, AJ Lee!" Vickie screamed in frustration.  
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**10:47pm**

Pretty much every car had cleared out of the building by this time of night except for one and it was 2010 Dodge Charger, owned by none other than John Cena himself, sitting atop the hood's car. He was playing his very own CD in his car when he waved over to a figure who came skipping over to his car from the shadows. It was Raw GM AJ Lee.  
"John! Hey!" she said, throwing her bags in the car and giving him a huge hug, to which John gladly returned. "Hey half-pint, ready for our business dinner?" John asked with a grin.

"Sure am, muscles," AJ joked back. "It's going to be so romantic, don'tcha think Johnny?" AJ fluttered her eyes in a flirty joking manner that stifled John for just a moment. "Well of course, you know how us two do business," John smirked as he regained his composure.

"Business chucks," AJ said with a smile as the two hopped into the car and started up the engine. The car pulled out of the parking garage and the engine immediately roared, hitting the open road. As AJ watched trees and buildings go by through her window, she couldn't help but wonder to herself. She was the boss now, after a crazy year of heartbreak and possible love.  
From the verbal abuse of Daniel Bryan, to being deemed 'too crazy' by Kane for even him, to being turned down for marriage by CM Punk when she really thought he dug a crazy chick such as herself. Yes, it was quite a year for Geek Goddess, she just wished that none of those relationships would have had such a negative outcome. Now, looking over to her left, was John Cena. The all-american good guy, the hero of the WWE if you will. She was proud to call the man her friend. Since Raw 1000, the two had started talking and hanging out. It wasn't fraternizing to her by any means, but that didn't stop what she was feeling towards John rising through her chest. A small smile crept its way onto AJ's face, which then turned into a smirk.

John looked to his right and also noticed the smirk on AJ's face. "Something on your mind AJ?" he asked, and a slight pink blush crossed its way onto her cheeks. "Just excited for our business dinner is all. Oh by the way, are you seriously still wearing your ring attire to dinner?" she asked stifling a laugh.

John laughed as well. "Hey I go to work when I wear this, so technically I am in business clothes."

"Oh my gosh, you are such a fruity pebble!" AJ said, bursting into laughter.

As John laughed along with her, he couldn't help but wonder. This was a business dinner, and nothing more. They were great friends, and both parties did intend to keep it that way. It's not like anything was going to be taken to the next level, right? Right?

**There you guys go, chapter one (: be sure to leave a review and tell me what ya think!**

**-Ronnie**


	2. A Business Dinner

**Alright, tell me you guys saw that kiss and makeout. Tell me you saw it! That was hot! I am so loving this couple and this ship right now. It will never die! I literally did a flip when I saw it happen! Haha, but seriously though it's just getting started and I'll be happy to captain this ship. Thank you to everybody who favorited, followed, and reviewed. IT was an amazing response so without further ado, I present to you…chapter 2!**

**October 21, 2012 11:05pm**

John Cena pulled the Charger into a near vacant parking lot and braked to a complete stop. AJ stepped out of the car and looked at her surroundings. "Where the heck are we John?" she asked. John stepped out of the car and placed a hand on AJ's shoulder.

"This AJ, is southern greatness. Allow me to welcome you to the Waffle House," he said with a grin crossing his features. "I know it's not fancy or anything, but I was hoping we take a break from fancy and just wind down in a normal setting for once, ya know?" AJ nodded, a look of glee twinkling in her eye.

"I love it John! It's so down to earth, plus I hate eating at fancy places anyway so you made the right choice," AJ said. "Well don't just stand there looking like a doofus, let's go in!" She took him by the hand and skipped inside to grab some seats at the front counter table. There were only about two or three other people in the diner, so this had the makings for a quiet nice evening.

As the duo grabbed their seats, a chef walked out of the kitchen and John immediately recognized him. "Yo Mo, over here!" he called out, and Mo walked over to them, shaking his head in surprise and offering a smile.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite celebrity customer. How you been man? Heard that divorce took a nasty turn but you got it settled. Living the life now?" he said, motioning over to AJ, who chuckled.

John took his cap off his head and sighed. "No, it's just a business dinner Mo. Myself and my boss AJ have some work-related things to discuss." Mo then asked, "professional or personal business?"

"Both!" AJ chimed in. Mo laughed and nodded his head at the Geek Goddess. She seemed to be keeping John in good spirits. "Well whichever it is, just know that you guys make a great couple from the looks of it." John scratched the back of his head in a fit of…nervousness? He had never been one to shy away from a girl. He was always confident. Was AJ slowly tearing that wall down? He didn't know what to feel. AJ smiled at Mo and gave him a thank you, and then was told that there "candlelight breakfast dinners" would be out shortly.

"So AJ, let's talk…"John started. AJ spun around her chair to face John. "Okay, go ahead you first," she said, with the brightest of smiles upon her face. They proceeded to talk about their hopes and dreams and where they saw their careers headed. John talked about how bad he felt losing to the Rock and how he one day wanted a rematch, and AJ told him about her upbringing and how she hoped it would all come full circle by winning the Divas championship title one day, preferably at WrestleMania.

As John listened on, his elbow started to ache in pain and he flinched it up, knocking his plate off the table and onto the floor. "Are you okay John?" AJ asked, her face deeply rooted in concern. John tried to shake off the pain, but it just wasn't working for him. "AJ, my elbow," he said as he grimaced.

"Here let me see it." AJ took a gentle hold of John's elbow, and saw where all the spots he had his elbow cleaned out at were causing him pain. She set his elbow in his lap, and started rolling her thumbs over the pain spots, gently massaging them and causing the pain to go away. She started to work her way up his arm and when she got to his shoulder, she and John were directly at eye level, and there seemed to be a heavy nervous tension in the air about them, but neither wanted to say anything about it or acknowledge it. AJ slowly dropped her arms off of John, and scratched the back of her head. She was definitely sure after tonight, she had clearly felt something electric for the man sitting before her.

As the duo continued to eat their dinner in awkward silence, a waistcoated figure sat several tables away, a digital camera in hand. The flash was off and so was the beeping sound, so she proceeded to take several pictures of the activities that John and AJ were partaking in. Needless to say, this wasn't going to look too good for the two fan favorites of the WWE Universe.

Ringing for the check, she paid and left through the back door of the diner. Putting her camera in her purse, she pulled out a phone and proceeded to dial up a number.

"Vickie, I did what you asked me to do. All the proof you need is right here in this camera," the figure said into the phone. Vickie squealed a Halloween-sized scream and the figure had to hold the phone back a few feet away from her ear before resuming the conversation.

"Excellent work Tamina, my dear. Big things are in store for you, I promise you that. This is exactly what I need to get that little troll out of power!" Vickie laughed an evil cackle through the phone and Tamina grinned. Once she had returned from injury, they were going to turn the WWE upside down and expose John Cena and AJ Lee as the frauds they really were.

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**October 22, 2012 12:36am**  
John and AJ reached the local Holiday Inn that they were staying at. After an awkward dinner, they managed to salvage it by singing Superstars' theme songs. Though they weren't particularly good singers, they did make a good time out of it.

"So it looks like I'm in room 42A, and you're in room 42B AJ," John said, looking down at their keycards. AJ nodded in agreement. "Sure thing," she said with a smile. As they stood in front of their rooms, John leaned against the door and AJ just kept smiling and looking away nervously at the same time, back and forth. "Good night John," she finally said, and before she left, John grabbed her by the hand, and placed his cap on top of her head, ruffling her hair. "Good night AJ," he said, before going into his room and closing the door.

As AJ got undressed out of her business clothes, she put on a robe and was prepared to take a nice, hot shower and just sleep the rest of the night away. She approached the shower, and turned the knob, but nothing came out. She tried turning the other knob, but all that shot out was sewage water, which she was completely lucky to avoid. "Piece of shit," she muttered aloud. "Shower doesn't even work!" How was she supposed to get clean for the night now? Well, she did have a great friend next door, who surely wouldn't mind her using his, right?

Quietly putting on some Pikachu shower sandals and slowly but silently closing the door, AJ crept over next door and gave a low but audible knock. About a minute later, the door opened, but AJ was not prepared for what she was about to see. John Cena, in all his glory, standing in front of AJ scantily clad in nothing but a towel. Apparently, the shock had carried over to him as well.

"AJ? Oh shit. Umm, what can I do for you?" he asked in a slightly nervous tone. AJ cocked her head to the side, as she began to explain. "The room in my water doesn't work and I needed a shower real bad so—" John put a finger up to her lips. "Say no more, you can use mine," he said, making way for her to come in, which she did happily by skipping in.

Making sure the coast was clear, John picked up a sign that said 'Do Not Disturb' he had found on the closet and hung it outside on the doorknob. Good thing he did too because the Prime Time Players were just turning down the hallway and when they saw the sign, they burst out laughing. "Someone's in there being a big dog! Awruh Awruh Awruh!" they both barked as they went to their room.

AJ slid down against the wall in the shower in relief allowing the water to fall on her skin. Now that she was here, she didn't want to leave. As she finished her shower and put on some PJ's, she saw John stretched out across the bed watching SportsCenter. Deciding to surprise him, she flopped onto his bed and snatched the remote.

"Hey now, what was that for?" John asked, bewildered. "It's late, no TV for you mister," she said with a sly smirk. John shrugged and leant his head back on his pillow.

"Hey John?"

"Yes AJ?"

"I don't want to go back to my room, I feel comfortable in this bed, with you." The words were just tumbling out of her mouth with no chance to stop them. "Can I stay the night with you?"

John pondered it for a moment, then stretched out his arm motioning for AJ to come here. "Of course," he said. "Thanks!" she said, sliding under the covers and nestled her chest into the Cenation Leader's bare chest and neck region. John felt a weird sense of pride and electricity wash over him as she did this. With one arm, he turned off the lamp and wrapped his strong arms around the Geek Goddess, and fell asleep to her light snoring sounds as he stroked her hair.

He didn't know what this was going to lead to, but he knew that nobody could ever find out about this, at all. Because if someone did, things were going to get ugly in a hurry. Yup, that's what a pain in the ass 'fraternizing' could be.

And the most important part of it all? He could feel himself starting to fall for AJ Lee.

Alright I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because next AJ…loses her job *sad face*

What will be the fallout? Don't forget to like, subscribe, comment, fave, and leave a review! Love you guys! Next chap up soon!

-Ronnie


	3. Consequences

**Happy Turkey Day, CenLee nation! Hope all is going well for you guys! We have a lot to be thankful for, and so I decided to go ahead and get this new chapter written up just for you guys! :) Thank you to Hi14x for helping me get this up while I'm stuck away from the computer for Thanksgiving! A surprise awaits you at the bottom. Enjoy!**

AJ Lee awoke the next morning with a huge and quite blissful smile on her face. The previous night had been an amazing one for the petite Diva, and it had started to stir back up old feelings that she hadn't felt in quite a long time. She had gone to a business dinner with John Cena, and while that might have been what you wanted to call it, they talked anything but business. It wasn't like anything had happened by any means, but boy did she wish it did. Waffle House was a great location, John was great company, and Mo was a great host. Yawning as she stretched her limbs, her nose picked up a familiar scent over her body. A very masculine scent with some cologne that had been sprayed slightly. AJ smiled.

John. She remembered his generosity and kindness of allowing her to use his shower and when hers got screwed up, the way his arms felt around her body when she nestled in close to him, his large arms giving her that feeling of protection she felt she so desperately needed deep down in her heart of hearts. As she got dressed in her corporate business attire, she decided to check her phone and saw that she had two messages. Her heart pounded immediately with excitement and giddiness as the first one was from John. It read:_ "Hey April, I mean boss. Aha, anyway had t head out early for an autograph signing and then a visit to the doc so I won't see ya till Raw. Feel free to use anything in my hotel room you see fit. And I also ordered room service for you. Hope you like pancakes! See you soon Ms. Lee._

_Love, John"_

If her heart didn't stop pounding soon, she knew it was going to literally explode right out of her chest. And another feeling overcame her as well; emotion. Tears began to roll down her cheeks unknowingly. Was it possible that anybody could ever be this nice? It just didn't seem possible. But this was John Cena she was thinking about. The man who was always down for a righteous cause, had granted over 300 wishes for the Make-A-Wish foundation, and was a role model for many around the world. Leader, hero, savior. Good ol' John Cena. And AJ was starting to fall harder for him than she had ever fell for anybody in her life.

After saving the first message, AJ moved on to the next message, which happened to be from; surprise surprise Vince McMahon? It read: _"AJ we need you at Titan Tower. Emergency meeting about your status as GM."_ And just when she was about to hit that high note, everything took an utter steep drop. She grabbed her bags and headed out but not before updating her Twitter.

_ WWEAJLee: Just called to an emergency meeting at Titan Tower. #BusinessChecks_

John shook the doctor's hand and left the trainer's room with a smile on his face for the first time all day. The doctor had told him he wouldn't be able to compete at Hell In A Cell but he would be able to start competing in house show matches when the WWE went overseas the next week for some shows in Europe. As he walked down the corridor, he noticed a small group of Superstars gathering around a TV at catering, watching the screen intently. His curiosity getting the better of him, John mosied on over to where they were and when he directed his eyes to the screen, his eyes went into to collective shock. There stood AJ, in the ring with Vince McMahon, which John knew couldn't be good news. He tapped Justin Gabriel on the shoulder. "Yo Justin, do you know what's going on?" Justin quickly nodded his head. "Apparently Vince is making AJ resign as GM. They said she had an affair with a Superstar," he said solemnly. John shook his head in slight confusion as to register just what his ears had heard. "What? An affair?! With who?" His voice came out a bit more worried than he had intended it to. "They don't know man, but apparently the evidence is stacked pretty high against her," Gabriel finished. John felt like a heavy blow had been delivered to his stomach as he listened to AJ recall her stories of when she was young and out on the streets, trying to survive, and it tore at him deeply on the inside. Somehow, someway, he felt that in a way that this was his fault, and wanted to set out to correct it. Before he could go, the TV caught his eye one last time as Vince introduced AJ's replacement: Vickie Guerrero. That was the final straw. He flipped the entire catering table over, others watching on as he walked away. This day sucked.

Everybody was doing their best backstage to try and cheer up the former GM AJ Lee. From Kofi Kingston to Zack Ryder to even Team Hell No, each had tried a different method to cheer her up, and all had utterly failed. Now up right now was Santino, doing his best to get AJ to smile again, but at this point AJ was just too tired. She had been crying for about 45 minutes now, and there was only one person at this point who she knew would help cheer her up, easily. John Cena.

As if a fairy godmother above had heard AJ's silent wish, a deep voice cleared his throat, announcing his presence. Santino knew exactly that that was his cue to leave, so he took off in the funny walking motion that only Santino could do.

After he was gone, John looked at AJ, and AJ looked at him. There was a silence in the air, but this silence was not awkward. This silence was one of understanding. "Hey AJ."

"Hey John." John sighed before speaking again. "I just want to let you know, if you need anything, anything at all, just let me know," John offered. AJ inwardly smiled, because he was doing it again, with that gentleman-like attitude and cute charm. "Thanks John, I really appreciate it," she said back.

John nodded. "So how you hloding up?"

"I think I'll be fine. To be honest, I knew something like this would happen sooner or later," she said, as if in defeat. A surprised look came over John's face when he heard those words. Why would she give up without a fight? She never gave up...like him in a sense. "Yeah...and you just let it go, like why? All we have to do is find another witness in the locker room, and get their side of the story, then it becomes he said she said, and then it becomes all just allegations and you got your job back just like that and you just gave up out there," John finally said. E had said his piece, but the shocker had yet to come. "John...there was a superstar involved," AJ said. "Who?" AJ took a deep breath before preparing to deliver the news. "It was you."

She allowed him time to process the statement she had just gave him before John delivered an astounding "WHAT? Are they talking about the business dinner we had? That was just that, a business dinner. How can somebody make something of that?" AJ shook her head. "I just don't know John, I just don't." Her voice started to crack and shades of mascara were falling down her face as a bundle of tears she tried to hold back just came bursting forth. Just like last night, John once again opened up his arms and AJ pushed herself into them immediately, wanting to be in her sanctuary of John's embrace and nothing more. "I'm going to fix this AJ. I promise, I'm gonna take care of it," John solemnly swore.

******October 22, 2012 11:07pm**

After some unsuccessful attempts at visiting both Vince and Vickie, John sighed in defeat as he headed over to his car and sat down in the driver's seat. "Any luck?" AJ asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. John shook his head, and sank down into his seat. He didn't even want to look at her, and show how dissappointed he was. Instead, she tilted his seat back all the way to where John was streched completely horizontal, and then proceeded to climb on top of him and rest her head on his chest. "John, you're my best friend you know that right?" John nodded. "Thank you for trying to help me tonight. I appreciate you so much," she said with a small smile. John smiled back at her before exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep. Wrapping his arms around her like a blanket, she tinted the windows dark and fell asleep on him as well. Tomorrow would be another day, but all AJ could think about was two things. Getting a job back with the WWE, and how much she wanted to take things to the next level with John Cena.

******Okay so I love reader interactivity and what I have planned for the next chap: John Cena faces the WWE and universe. You get to ask the questions this time though! So if you have a question, leave it in your review or PM it to me :) thanks and see you soon! Review!**

******-Ronnie**


	4. Facing The Universe

**Testing testing testing…is this thing on? There we go. This is your captain speaking, welcoming you back to the CenLee story Next Level! Hope you are enjoying the ride! Anyone see Smackdown last Friday when John was on MizTV? Poor guy, subject to Miz's guest host voice and prodding. You can tell he wanted to admit he kissed AJ for more than just show, haha. He did beat up Dolph though, so now I'm really interested to see where they take this story with Dolph involved now. Don't know if you guys follow AJ on Twitter either, but she put "Yay for Cena beating up Dolph! I love it when Cena ends up on top. *waits for Internet to explode*". I was like wow! Haha anyway, thanks to everybody who gave out questions for John Cena to answer, and a thank you to all the followers and reviewers as well. You guys are awesome! Chapter 4 let's go.**

**October 28, 2012 7:26pm**

John Cena laced up his sneakers, threw on his black Rise Above Cancer t-shirt, and solidified the outfit with a pink cap to go atop his freshly cut head. Tonight was the night he was bound to face the music; by answering the questions of the WWE Universe as to what was going on with this scandal. Word was getting around quite fast, and John wanted to put everything to rest as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

He grabbed his dog tags from out of his bag, and began to shine them up. As he tried to place them above his head, his elbow caused him to wince in pain again. It felt like a flesh-eating parasite was tearing his elbow apart from the inside out. Heavenly intervention and perfect timing however arrived in the form of AJ as she stealthily skipped her way into John's locker room, lightly closing the door after making sure the place was secure.

"Here, let me," she said, taking the dog tags out of his hands. She lowered his head, and placed them around his neck, giving them a light flick as they dangled from his neck.

"Better?" she asked. A warm smile and a big hug was what answered her question instead. AJ was slightly surprised, but nonetheless hugged him back as well.

"Aww, did somebody miss me while I was away?" AJ asked with a light laugh.

"Miss you? I haven't seen you in 5 days! No texts, no calls, hell you weren't even on Twitter that entire time!" he said frantically, pulling out of the hug and going to sit over on the bench. AJ sighed, and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders to comfort him.

"I'm sorry, I mean, I had just gotten fired. I didn't know what else to do so I decided to go home and visit my family for a few days. I had no idea you would miss my presence this much," she said solemnly.

Know that feeling where you get mad at someone for no good reason and you find out the truth, then you feel like a jerk? Well, that's exactly how John was feeling right about now. He tried to find the words that would smooth over the situation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I just…I don't know, I guess I was just really worried about you, and didn't know what to do since you were going through a hard time and all," he said somberly.

AJ looked on with adoring brown eyes as he spoke. Was this true? Her, of all people? John Cena was legitimately worried about her? A smile started to etch its way onto her face. She watched as John stood up and took a deep breath, before hearing him say, "time to get out there."

"You don't have to do this, you know. But I know you want to give the people answers, because they do deserve them. Just be sure to give them the right ones," she said, placing a hand on his chest.

"Everything I say will be the right answer AJ. There was no scandal, just us having a business dinner and staying at the same hotel. That's all," he quipped back.

"Alright, if you need me out there, just let me know." AJ offered. Before she could turn to leave, a strong hand circled her back around and found its way around her waist. There she was, body to body with the Cenation Leader. She could feel her heart start to pound, as everything inside of her body started to grow even warmer.

John's deep ocean-blue eyes looked deeply in to her pool-deep brown eyes, and John felt as if he was staring into her soul. He then used his right hand to start caressing her hair and AJ could've sworn she heard him mutter "so damn attractive."

"AJ, I think you should know something."

"Yes, John?"

"I think that I—" three knocks came at the door followed by Santino's voice. "Hey John Chaina, the a'producer said it'sa showtimes," he called out.

AJ snickered as John muttered "cockblocker" before he ruffled AJ's hair and sauntered off to the gorilla.

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"Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, John Cena!" Michael Cole announced to the live Atlanta crowd. John came storming out, trying to put on his best smile possible, still slightly mad about what transpired backstage earlier.

"Michael Cole, what in blue blazes? Vince told me Teddy Long was gonna be asking the questions!" John said, as the crowd popped for the comments directed towards Michael Cole.

"Well thanks for the welcome John, but now let's get back down to business. Our questions are going to be coming from Twitter, Facebook, Tout, and tonight, so let's get started with the first question! This one comes from therealchamps at , and they ask, John do you like AJ?"

John shrugged his shoulders and decided to play the 'easy does it' card. "Do I like AJ? Is the sky blue Cole? Of course I like AJ! So does the other 500,000 people who follow her on Twitter! AJ and I are just friends, but she is an awesome girl."

Cole nodded, before moving on to the next one. "This question comes from Hi14x and it reads, John, if you and AJ are just friends, then how far would you consider taking it?"

John took his cap off and scratched his head, before answering. "Well AJ is one hell of a woman, I'll give you that. If it was possible at all, then I suppose that maybe AJ and I might have some type of future together. But remember, it was a business dinner! Don't go twisting the image and getting your own thoughts out of it!"

Cole snickered. "What's so funny Michael Cole? Did you have a business dinner too?" John quipped, before Cole shook his head and continued. "This next question comes from Cody'sxFavoritexGirl and she asks, "Were your growing feelings for AJ the reason for your recent divorce?" John shook his head.

"No, absolutely not. While I am glad to be single again, because it was a long and painful process, that bridge was already burned long before AJ and I had any type of business-like association. As for feelings for AJ…"

The quorum was interrupted when the familiar theme of 'Let's Light It Up' played throughout the arena and out came the crazy spitfire AJ as she skipped to the ring, a huge smile on her face as the crowd cheered loudly for her.

Once in the ring, she grabbed Cole's mic and pushed him out of the ring. Cole muttered something inaudible as he went to go sit back down at the announcer's table.

"John, you know you don't have to bother with these questions right?" AJ said rather defensively.

"I know AJ but—" Cole interrupted them. "Sorry to be a bother guys, but I've just received another question via Twitter and this one comes from theanonymousdiva. It reads, "Hey John, if you could would you do this all over again?"

John glanced over to AJ, who seemed to have some type of hopeful clout in her eyes about the answer he would choose. For his sake, he actually said the right thing.

"In a heartbeat." The crowd popped loudly and actually started to chant 'John loves AJ!' as AJ offered that shy smile and John lowered the brim of his hat over his forehead to try and cover his face up.

"EXCUSE ME!" Booooooooo. "I SAID, EXCUSE ME!" Speaking of party crashers, out came Vickie Guerrero as she made her way to the ring with a sinister grin.

"John Cena and AJ Lee, we all know that you both had an affair with each other, so why can't you just admit it?"

"Vickie, there was no damn affair and you know it!" AJ said with large hints of anger in her voice. Vickie stared down AJ before cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West. "Oh AJ, that's what you say, but this question suggests otherwise. This one is from xOpinionatedxJadedx, and it reads, Hey AJ, how good is John Cena in bed? Is that why you skip a lot more now?" Vickie cackled at the question. "Looks like you two have been busted," she said with a smirk on his face. AJ launched her mic across the ring, narrowly missing Vickie, but hitting Michael Cole square in the head.

"Vickie, you better get your facts straight because—" before John could finish, he was blindsided by an attack from Dolph Ziggler. John quickly turned the attack back into his favor and clotheslined Dolph out of the ring as Vickie made her way back up the ramp, Dolph crawling up along.

John and AJ stood their ground, spoiling for a fight, and Vickie was more than happy to give them one…on her time and her terms.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Vickie and Dolph made their way back through the backstage curtains, where Tamina was waiting on them with a bag in hand.

"Hey Vickie, know how you wanted me to get more evidence? Well, apparently the guy at the hotel counter lent me some of the video clips from the security room, and everything you need is on these tapes," she said, holding them in the air.

Dolph shook his head at how despicable AJ had gotten. "Girls really are cheap these days. AJ isn't a role model, she's a prime example of why the Divas division has fallen as far as it has," he said, clicking his tongue.

Vickie shrugged. "That doesn't matter now Dolph. Point blank, we're going to ruin those two and run them out of the WWE, so that they'll never show their faces again!"

Vickie kept on cackling, as Tamina and Dolph looked on and smiled. They had their targets in sight, and were about to eliminate them at all costs.

**Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. In the next one, Vickie presents her evidence to John Cena, and AJ has an encounter with both Dolph Ziggler and Eve Torres that foreshadows major events to come! If you like what you're seeing, or have any suggestions, feel free to PM me. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! (:**

**Second, Cody'sxFavoritexGirl and I are working on a two-shot with half of it CenLee and the other Zigglee so keep a lookout for that on her page soon!**

**Oh and if you are looking for more CenLee fics to read, my pick of the day goes to "One Heart, Two Owners" by DEADGIRL INC. It's worth a read, so go check it out! Talk soon!**

**-Ronnie**


	5. Evidence

**Hey everybody, and welcome back to my story Next Level! You guys ready for TLC this Sunday? I hope it's gonna be a good event. I personally can't wait for the Cena-Ziggler ladder match, it will definitely steal the show. I think Dolph will win though :/ either because of AJ(by accident, she ain't turning heel) or the Shield. Anyways, check out on Twitter what John and AJ are doing now, guaranteed to make you laugh! And now on to chapter 5!**

**Chapter 5: Evidence**

**October 29. 2012 8:05pm**

John Cena stormed down the ramp with an annoyed look on his face as his music played. There was no salute tonight. He had to deal with Vickie and put these alleged affair rumors to rest. As he stormed into the ring, Vickie couldn't help but smile an evil, wicked conniving smile at the Cenation Leader. All the times he caused her grief in the past, and now she was definitely happy to return the favor.

"Let's get something straight here Vickie. The only reason I am out here is to put all these rumors to bed, nothing else. Got it?" John asked in an annoyed tone.

"Oh sure Mr. Professional, let's get down to business. Shall we start with…3 weeks ago when you asked AJ out on a date in this very ring?" Vickie said, as she pointed to the TitanTron showing a past clip of John asking AJ out to get a burger.

Now in the minds of everybody, that was a complete joke. Nobody knew that the two had actually gone out to the In-N-Out Burger to actually get some late night dinner. But it was a joke to everyone else, and that's how he was going to play this card.

"It was a joke Vickie. Don't you get it? I'm sure everybody else did, but I guess that's just a bit over your head now, isn't it?" John quipped with a slight grin emerging on his facial features.

Vickie only snorted. "Don't worry Johnny boy, we're just getting started! How about this clip from last week?" Once again Vickie pointed to the screen, this time showing John hugging AJ with a slow motion effect added to the clip. John felt the grin slip away as a more stern and angry look adorned his features instead. He perfectly remembered this.

"That was the day AJ had gotten fired. She was upset and was crying all day because she lost the one job she had wanted more than any other, thanks to your stupid allegations about an affair that never happened. I was being a friend and giving her a shoulder to cry on," he said, starting to sound a little bit ticked off. This woman was really pushing his buttons, messing with him and AJ.

Vickie tried to play up a slightly defeated look, only to cackle as she said, "So you're telling me that…friends meet up for romantic dinners?" She pointed to the screen and it showed a picture of the night John and AJ had gone out to the Waffle House to have a business dinner.

Damn! How in the hell did Vickie get these pictures? That was the thought John had that was running through his head as he stared at the picture a bit longer before thinking up an answer. Well, it was a business dinner, wasn't it? It technically was, so that was the answer that he was going to go with.

"What, do you expect me to act surprised? That was the business dinner that I told the whole world about! We were meeting to discuss the status of my injury and when I'd be cleared to come back and compete right here on Monday Night Raw." John was doing his best to hide the worry and discomfort in his voice, because now he was starting to have to think on his toes now.

At first, it looked like he had gotten through Vickie's tests as she scoffed with major disapproval towards the face of the WWE. But then, Vickie pulled one last trick out her sleeve.

"If you claim there was no affair Cena, then how do you explain this?" Vickie pointed to the screen and it once again showed a clip, this time showing John and AJ standing in what appeared to be near a hotel elevator. AJ was pacing back and forth, with a nervous, yet angry look on her face as John watched from the elevator door, trying to calm her. Eventually, he motioned with his hand to come back and AJ followed suit into the elevator and the door closed.

With major gasps and collective shock and awe, the crowd stared at the screen before looking at John, who seemed to be at a loss for words. They then started to chant, "you are busted!" multiple times before he was finally able to speak as Vickie cackled on with witchly laughter. "I know what it looks like. I was convincing her not to go and kick your ass Vickie, before she ended up in even more trouble. She reluctantly agreed and didn't," John said calmly.

"So then what happened? Did you walk her to her door? Give her kisses and spend the night with her in the same hotel room?" John shook his head.

Vickie shook her head before getting another mean look on her face. "You know what, it's a good thing I run this show now. And quite frankly, I don't even know what you see in that psychotic, disgusting, unstable, ugly—" John cut her off right then and there. He had snapped and had enough of Vickie's shit.

"Whoa whoa whoa! You can call me all the names you want, but when it comes to AJ, she is off limits. She is way more resilient than you, much better in the ring, and is sure as hell a lot more attractive without a shadow of a doubt," he said sternly. Vickie only twisted his words.

"Oh John, that's so sweet! You think AJ is resilient, and you said attractive as well right?" Vickie only smirked as John fumbled over his words.

"I said she's attractive, not—I mean not res—" his words were cut off by the theme Here To Show the World as Mr. Money in the Bank Dolph Ziggler strode his way down to the ring with an incessant smirk on his face as well.

"John, I think we've seen and heard enough out of you tonight," Dolph said, stepping into the ring. "You and your sophomoric probes are just beginning to get unbearable to watch. Now the audience sees you and AJ in a whole new light. We now see that you two are—" John, completely boiled up over to this point, grabbed Dolph roughly by the collar of his shirt.

"You like to talk Dolph? Fine, but don't you ever mention mine and AJ's name in the same sentence, ever again." With that, he roughly shoved the Showoff to the ground, and hopped out the ring, eager to get the hell out of here and make his way to the back.

On the way back, he actually happened to run into AJ who, thirty minutes earlier had defeated Beth Phoenix in a good match. It was quite the shock to hear that Vickie, in a complete abuse of power, had fired the Glamazon for not getting the job done the first time around.

"John!" AJ said with a huge smile on her face, the first smile John had seen on her all night.

"Hey AJ," John said with a smile on his face. "You see what happened out there?" AJ nodded.

"Vickie, that witch. She'll do anything to make my life hell. I guess we're in this together now huh?" AJ asked.

John nodded to answer her question. "Yeah, we're in this together now. But look at you, you did good out there and won the match. Looked good doing it too, might I add," John said with a sly smirk, which AJ couldn't help but smile back at and lightly blush.

"I'll treat you out to sundaes tonight, sound good?" he asked. She nodded back in response.

"Good, see you in about an hour. Got a closing segment to do," he said, giving her a quick hug before walking off. As the Geek Goddess stared at John Cena watching him go, she could feel those residue feelings starting to subside in her gut again.

'No AJ, not yet. It's not the time yet,' she told herself. But she knew fate didn't work like that, and it was only a matter of time before she would become drawn in to the Cenation Leader.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a throat cleared behind her. It was the Divas champion Eve Torres.

"What the hell do you want Eve?" AJ quickly snapped. Eve only offered a smirk in return.

"Easy now AJ. I wouldn't want you to go crazy on me now, would I? I just wanted to drop by and tell you congratulations on once again getting the spotlight put on yourself. Must be hard going through all these guys in one year huh? Now you're involved in a scandal with, of all people, John Cena."

"Shut up Eve. You're one to talk, considering you only used John to get the spotlight on yourself. You used him like the little hoeski you are. But now look at you. I guess I'd be jealous of me too if I was the Divas champion and wasn't being featured as the main female attraction," AJ said, her glare turning into a smirk, and vice versa for Eve.

"As long as I hold this belt, I will always be better than you! You're just used up trash who will never amount to anything in the WWE!" Eve's comments were met with a vicious slap from AJ.

"You know what Eve? I want you to hold on to that title. Just know that one day, I'm gonna be gunning for you, and when I do, you better watch your back at every turn, because you'll never know when this crazy chick is gonna pop up next." And with that, AJ smiled and skipped off to go find John.

**11:11pm**

"Ready to go AJ?" John asked. "Always ready son," she replied jokingly. John chuckled as they walked their way to the parking lot. AJ had been on his mind quite often lately, and honestly, he was single and so was she, so the question of being in a possible relationship was bound to pop up sooner or later.

"So it's come down to this huh John?" The duo spun around to see the Viper Randy Orton standing to the side in the shadows as he walked into the light.

"What the hell are you talking about Randy?" John asked. Randy shook his head.

"Don't play dumb Cena, you've been purposely ducking me and your friends just so that you can hang with…her," he said coyly pointing at AJ. "Now thanks to your actions, your ass is under fire with allegations of an affair."

"Okay? We had a few business din—" Randy cut him off. "Don't give me that bull John. We came to the WWE to be wrestlers and win championships, not produce scandals and end up on the covers of cheap tabloids. You're supposed to be a locker room leader, leading by example, yet you can't even do that."

"What I do in my spare time is none of your damn business Orton." John clenched his fists as he pulled AJ by the hand towards his car. Randy only crossed his arms.

"I'm just your best friend who's looking out for you. And hanging with that ring rat isn't going to do you any favors. Ask Bryan, Kane and Punk. They know," Orton said, shaking his head. "People's opinions in the locker room are changing about you by the day."

"I don't care what people say or think of me Randy. You know that. Let'em talk," he said. With a fierce glare at his friend, he hopped into the car with AJ, and sped off.

Randy stood there shaking his head before heading to the car. "Tried to tell him."

**Lot of tension in this chapter huh? It only gets better from here, I promise you that! Thanks to all of my fans, readers, and reviewers, please keep them coming (: and also, a TLC surprise. Whoever can get the most match results correct will be able to request anything they want to happen in the next chapter! So here's the card so far, and the person with the best record wins! Leave your predictions in your review or PM me (:**

**Show vs Sheamus, Chairs Match**

**Cena vs Ziggler, Ladder Match**

**The Shield vs Ryback/Team Hell No(TLC)**

**Kofi Kingston vs Wade Barrett IC Title**

**Cesaro vs R-Truth US Title**

**Thanks! -Ronnie**


	6. Evidence II

**Whoop whoop, another update! Welcome back to Next Level, where CenLee greatness shall shine and I get to type freely on fanfictional playground! Just wanted to say thank you to all the people who did review and favorite this story! I also realized that a lot of everybody's picks looked the same, so here's the tiebreaker for TLC! The pre-show is a Divas' battle royal, so if you can predict the winner, you win the tiebreaker!(if you get your other picks right haha and AJ isn't in it, heads up) but anyway let's get on with the next chapter!**

**Chapter 6: Evidence II**

November 5, 2012 7:24pm

John Cena grabbed a cup of water from the catering table as he collapsed into a seat to rest his mind. Last night had been fun. They went out for ice cream sundaes and also happened to suspiciously run into Sheamus and Kaitlyn there who happened to have the same idea supposedly. Were they dating? John didn't know, but they sure as hell looked happy together. It was the same feeling that he had been experiencing a lot around AJ lately, when no one was there to mess things up for them, that is.

He had also just gotten word that he was being pushed back into the title picture for a shot at Survivor Series, and this was the best news that he had heard all day. As he got up to get ready to go, a heavy hand clasped him on the shoulder, and John recognized it as the hand of the Great White. The two had been enemies at first when Sheamus debuted, but as time went on, Sheamus changed his attitude towards things and stopped being a bully, allowing him to rise to the top of superstardom and become friends with the Cenation Leader.

"John, what's the crack fella?" he asked, with a heavy grin on his pale features.

"Eh, nothing much. I have to get ready to go address Vickie's allegations about this supposed affair," John said in a groaning tone. Sheamus clicked his tongue as he patted John on the back.

"The she-witch jus' won't stop, will she? Maybe she's too busy palling around with her 'client' to know the difference," Sheamus said. John threw his hat to the ground.

"And that's the thing of it! She was practically MARRIED to Edge when she was Smackdown GM! She was romantically involved with Dolph as well too!" he said, angrily.

"Whoa whoa don't lose yer temper, fella. You're just lettin' her get to yeh. Just go out there and get this straightened out so that you won't have ta worry 'bout it anymore," he said.

Taking the Celtic Warrior's advice, John nodded and began to go towards the ring. It was nice to know that not everybody's opinions in the locker room were changing about him.

**The Ring, 8:10pm**

"Alright Vickie, so once again we're back out here for another round of your so called 'evidence', am I right?" John asked annoyed. Vickie laughed before replying.

"Yes John, you bet we are. I'm going to prove exactly what frauds you and AJ Lee are, and you're going to go up in smoke and be ruined for the rest of your career!" she said, like her voice was full of early Christmas joy. John groaned as he shook his head. "Just show us your damn evidence already." He was fed up with this shit.

"I'd be glad to!" Vickie pointed to the screen and it began to play a clip from what looked like a security camera. It was grayish looking, but it appeared to show AJ in a bathrobe heading over to what looked like another door. The door was cut off, so you couldn't see who was inside, but whoever it was invited her in quickly and closed the door swiftly. John groaned inwardly to himself. Who in the hell was the source that kept giving Vickie this stuff?

"Well what do you have to say for yourself or your little girlfriend now Johnny boy?" Vickie said, with nonstop cackling. John gave her a grin, which made Vickie a little uneasy.

"I say, congratulations Encyclopedia Brown, that means absolutely nothing!" John falsely cheered. "Anybody can walk around a hotel with a bathrobe on!"

Vickie began to get angry and her temper began to rise. "I'm not done yet Cena! I guess you didn't know that I have more evidence from another camera at a different angle!" She pointed to the screen and this one seemed a little bit more compromising. To John's relief, it showed only him stepping out of his room with nothing but a towel on, before hanging up a sign on his door that said 'do not disturb.'

John shook his head. "That's it? That's your so called evidence? The only thing scandalous about that was how scantily clad I was looking in nothing but a towel," he said, earning a few whistles from the females in the crowd.

Vickie offered a stone cold look to John. "You think you have all your answers don't you Cena? Well let's see what happens when we ask your little girlfriend AJ her take on the story! Come on out AJ!" she called. The crowd started chanting for AJ to come out, and they got their wish. She appeared…on the big Titan screen.

AJ looked extremely pissed off to John. Guess that's what the angry side to her was like, he assumed.  
"Vickie, I would love nothing more than to go out there and embarrass you myself, and beat your ass to a bloody pulp," AJ said, angrily as Vickie rolled her eyes. "If I did, then you would fire me, and I wouldn't be able to do what I love to do most," she said, with a momentary pause. John thought she was trying to find more words to say, but his eyes grew big and his blood started pumping at high levels when he saw who had walked into the picture.

Dolph Ziggler.

Dolph walked right up next to AJ, and with that smug, cocky, and swaggerish grin on his face, he placed an arm around AJ's shoulder as she looked over at him with the ultimate look of disgust on her face.

"And let's face it, AJ. We all know what you love to do," Dolph smirked and at that comment, John snapped. He hopped out of the ring and ran up the ramp to go rescue AJ from her captor as Vickie laughed like she had never laughed before in the background.

**Backstage, 8:47pm**

"Get your hands off of me!" AJ had tried to squirm free from Dolph's grip on her shoulder but he just wouldn't budge. "I told you AJ, you're nothing but trouble around here. You're like a black widow, preying upon people's careers, and Vick and I are going to put you of your misery."

AJ started to scream really loud, before Dolph took one of his wristbands and shoved it in her mouth, muffling her screams. "And let's face it AJ, I was being serious. I steal the show, I steal the spotlight, and if I really wanted to, I could steal you from that PG posterboy himself, John Cena!" As Dolph and AJ turned the corner, they happened to see Randy Orton sitting on a crate, watching as the events transpired. AJ screamed as best as she could for him to come help her, but he didn't move at all. Not even a twitch or a muscle.

Dolph's grin was quickly turned upside down when a powerful blow knocked him flat to the ground. It was the Celtic Warrior Sheamus! "Get your hands off her fella!" he said, as he got ready to unleash his battle cry. Before the fight could really get going, the World Heavyweight Champion Big Show delivered a vicious spear to Sheamus. "How'd ya like that fella?!" Show said with a grin, mocking his fallen foe's accent.

Before Show could gloat anymore though, a cold metal pole connected with the back of the big man's head, knocking him out cold. Who delivered the blow? John Cena.

Randy only leaned his head back against the wall, watching the events transpire before him.

John helped Sheamus up and pulled the nasty sweaty wristband from out of AJ's mouth. "AJ, are you okay?!" He didn't even try to hide the worry. AJ immediately rushed into his arms and he closed them tightly as soon as she did, feeling the tears fall down his bare chest and abdomen. If AJ was ever in trouble, John knew he would be there to save her. This was a feeling he was starting to fall in love with. Him, love AJ? Well, anything was possible really.

"Hey Sheamo, thanks for getting here as soon as you could," John said, nodding at Sheamus.

"No problem, fella glad to help out. It could've ended a lot sooner," he said, nodding over to Randy.

John looked over at Randy and gave him a fierce glare. "What the hell Orton?! AJ could've been hurt tonight! Why didn't you do anything?" John said.

Randy only shrugged and in a cold tone, said "not my fight, not my problem. I warned you John. I really did, and this is only going to get worse for you. Maybe next time you'll heed my warning and dump this skinny piece of trash." John honestly couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was his supposed best friend being serious right now?

"Randy, just get the fuck out of my sight right now. If I take one look at you, I'll beat your ass," John said, still holding AJ. Randy only lightly smirked, swiveled on his back foot, and sauntered away.

After he left, and Sheamus left to go meet 'somebody', John took AJ to the doc's office. While waiting for the doc, John began to apologize profusely. AJ only put a finger to his lips to shut him up.

"It's okay John," she said with a smile. "It's okay."

**And there we have it, chapter 6! What exactly is Orton's issue with AJ? What does Dolph really want with AJ? And can John last protecting AJ, or will he regret getting caught up in the middle of all this?  
Haha, hope you guys are loving everything right now though, and remember, the winner gets to pick what they want to happen if their TLC picks are right!**

**Main Event matches are worth 3 points, IC/US matches are worth 2 points, and if you predict the Divas battle royal winner, that's worth 4 points! So if you haven't gotten your picks in yet, get them in now!**

**One more thing, I've had an awesome project stuck in my mind for quite a while. The story is called "Underground" and basically its about society putting someone down and them rising up to conquer their obstacles and punch society in the face. It's starring multiple characters and has many different subplots which are inter-connected and will have one big payoff towards the end. I've been messing with the couples and stuff, so while I haven't gotten that completely down yet, I just felt compelled to tell you, because I seriously would need a collab partner or two to write this story. I have a feeling it's going to be epic! So if you are interested, PLEASE let me know in your review or by shooting me a PM.**

**Don't forget to review and the next chapter shall be up after TLC is on this Sunday! Please and thank you! (: -Ronnie**


	7. Motives

**(A/N: Thought I'd post another chapter before TLC. Enjoy everyone!)**

* * *

**November 8, 2012 7:41pm**  
"John, I don't think this is such a good idea, you know," AJ complained as John Cena dragged her down the hall of the corridor. John had felt that AJ needed major protection, so he decided that when he or Sheamus was away, this ragtag band of misfits were going to be the ones to guard her. "Come on AJ, it can't be that bad, and in a way, you did force them together," John offered.  
AJ made a face. "Not helping." John comforted her with a pat of her shoulder and continued on until they reached their destination. The door was already halfway open, and when John opened it all the way, the most terrible sight known to the world occurred.  
"John said I'm AJ's bodyguard!" Kane yelled. Bryan shook his head in utter refusal.  
"No, John said I'm AJ's bodyguard!" "Why the hell would he make you her bodyguard? You're just a short weak vegan!" Kane yelled. "And you're a psychotic demon machine who she wouldn't be safe around!" Bryan countered, just as loudly. The two continued to butt heads until John cleared his throat. "Hey guys? AJ's here."  
AJ waved to the tag champions with a not so happy smile while they both simultaneously yelled "AJ!" at the same time and proceeded to give the petite Diva a big hug, engulfing John and nearly crushing both of them in the process. After catching their breath, John regained his composure. "Okay so AJ, meet your personal APA. They'll protect you," he said with a grin. "Are you sure I'll be alright John?" she asked, a bit worried. After all, these two were former flames of hers John had hired to protect her. Who knew if they could get along? John eased her worries by bringing her into a warm embrace. "I promise AJ." With that, he kissed her forehead lightly and dipped out. What he didn't get to see was the slightly...crazy grin that appeared on AJ's face. After snapping out of her short spaceout, she looked to Kane and Bryan. "So which one of you guys is the tag team champions again?" She sat back in a chair and smiled to herself, ready to enjoy the free entertainment that was about to ensue between Kane and Daniel Bryan.

* * *

**8:25pm**  
Randy Orton sat in the locker room with a few of the other superstars watching the match unfold before them. John Cena and Sheamus were going at it hard nose to nose with Team Rhodes Scholars and were definitely winning the battle. Orton shook his head and stared at the screen. What the hell had happened to him? He'd gone from number one contender to being suspended to tapping out to, of all people, Alberto Del Rio. The spotlight could have been placed on him all this year, he could have been World Champion, hell he could have been the face of the WWE. But the fact was, no matter how hard he tried, someone was always there to outshine him. Usually, it was John Cena, but Randy had grown used to that. But lately, everyone had started to upstage him and surpass him in the ranks. CM Punk had done it after attacking the Rock, Sheamus had slowly started to pass him with his successful World Ritle reign, and Randy didn't like it. But just as he was starting to accept complacency, one person crossed his mind and changed everything completely. He couldn't stand the fact that a Diva, much less someone like AJ Lee, was actually starting to outshine him, and become more popular than him. Randy felt that she was using other guys just to build up her resume and climb to the top of the ladder, and use his best friend John Cena as the cherry on top, with this so-called scandal. Quite frankly, it made him sick. And he could only pray, that something bad happened to AJ, or he would have to take matters into his own hands.(no done yet)  
***Elsewhere***  
AJ had managed to escape the claws of Team Hell No and their incessant arguing. Honestly, it just drove her crazy how such a bickering pair could be that annoying and still remain tag team champions. But after seeing John and Sheamus pick up the win, her heart pounded for joy and she just felt that she had to go congratulate them. She turned the corner with tremendous speed, only to see that another Diva had already beaten her to the punch. It was the sultry Lithuainian beauty Aksana, approaching John as he looked rather uncomfortable, but was still keeping his cool.  
"John Cena, I just wanted to..congratualte you on your win tonight," she said in a seductive tone, running her manicured nails lightly across his chest and then licking the nails. John quirked an eyebrow at her actions, not knowing to freak out or what. His saving grace once again arrived in the form of AJ. "Hey bimbo, you got 5 seconds to get the hell away from him," she said, menacingly. Aksana looked over to AJ, and then back to John. "John, you did not tell me you had a lover," she said, attempting to reach around his waist. "I don't but you need to-" John never got to finish because AJ went into completely crazy chick mode and attacked Aksana, banging her head over and over into the ground, delivering slap after slap until she was able to crawl away and escape. "If I ever catch you within 5 feet of him, I will rip your eyes out and feed them to Ryback," AJ said, threatening Aksana before she took off running.  
After she had left, AJ turned her attention back to John. "As for you, I wanted to say congrats on your victory!" she said, her huge smile returning. It amazed John at how fast her moods could switch and change, almost at the push of a button. "Thanks." He grinned back at her, before AJ cocked her head to the side, clearly up to no good.  
"You know John, since I'm not GM anymore, there's a lot of things I can do now that I wasn't able to do before." John smirked, but a flash crossed his mind. AJ had already grabbed his neck and was about to pull him in for a kiss, but he broke out of her grasp. "AJ, we can't do that." AJ feigned hurt, but her curiosity got the better of her.  
"Why not? Don't you like me Johnny?" she asked, a crazy yet suggestive eyebrow being quirked. John looked completely baffled and out of his element.  
"I do-I mean there's-ahh hell," John said, fumbling over his words yet again. "No fraternizing," he finally said. AJ looked at him dumbfounded and slapped him upside the head. "And I thought I was crazy," she said, laughing. "Anyways, gotta go. Kaitlyn's waiting for me. See you soon!" She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and skipped away. John was left scratching his head over confusion. Feelings, something he felt he would never understand, for AJ. But more importantly, where was his phone? He went off to search for it, and not too distant stood three figures in black, observing the scene that happened before them.  
Scandals. What an injustice.

***Elsewhere***

Aksana finally slowed her steps as she got to Vickie's office. "Vickie, I got John Cena's phone," she said, out of breath.  
Vickie took the phone and eyed it like a grand prize. "Excellent work!" she said, screeching. "Now we'll really gt the proof we need!"


	8. Evidence III

**So, let me tell you, TLC? Top 3 PPV of the year, by far with WrestleMania, Extreme Rules, and possibly Night Of Champions. The Shield match was awesome! Everyone did their thing, but the shocker of the night goes to no other than AJ Lee, turning on John Cena and helping Ziggler win! I was shocked honestly, but I'm not sure whether to call her a heel yet, or if she's just crazy and obsessed with Cena for not letting her come out and help? Lol oh well, Slammys tonight! And congratulations to therealchamps for going undefeated(as did I) on their PPV picks. I shall contact you soon and we will talk about what you would like to transpire in a very near future chapter. On to Chapter 8!**

**Chapter 8: Evidence III**

November 12, 2012 8:11pm

John Cena arrived in the building a little bit later than usual with a lot clearly still on his mind. He had to pull double duty this weekend at the house shows just to make sure he was still in good shape and was good to work matches again. The answer to that question was a big emphatic YES!

He bid his hellos to people such as R-Truth and Justin Gabriel, as well as Tyson Kidd and Kofi Kingston. Survivor Series was in 6 days, and he needed to stay on his A-game if he was to defeat CM Punk and Ryback both for the WWE Championship and have any shot of challenging the Rock at the Royal Rumble.

As he set his bags down, and prepared to get ready to warm for tonight's non-title match against CM Punk, heavy breathing entered the vicinity and John could only figure out one person who breathed that hard and hadn't had a match. He opened the door and there stood the Terminator himself, Ryback.

"Cena." John nodded his head. "Ryback. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to come by and tell you good luck tonight and on Sunday. You're going to need it," Ryback huffed. John looked at the man with a dead serious look in his eye. "And why is that?"

Ryback raised his arms, prepared to get his point across to the Cenation Leader. "Because Sunday, I will feast like I've never feasted before, and do not throw in any Thanksgiving joke, because nothing will stop me from laying you out right here, right now Cena." John only smirked at the buff, dominant Ryback. Did he really think he could beat him?

"I'll tell you what Ryback. Many people have come across me and said the same thing, and many have fallen at my hand. What I'll tell you is this, if you want some, come get some."

"Is that what you told AJ last night?" John immediately froze in his tracks. He couldn't believe the audacity of this monster to mention AJ to him.

"What the fuck did you just say?" John demanded. Ryback managed a slight grin.

"I didn't choke Cena. I said, is that what you told AJ last night? Apparently, she's really into you since she left those creepy ass voice mails on your phone," he said. John patted his pockets, and realized then that his phone wasn't there at all. After all, he had lost it a few days ago, and apparently never found it whatsoever. Ryback directed John's attention to the TV monitor. Vickie was in the ring with Dolph, who were both confronting AJ at that time after Dolph's tag team victory over Randy Orton and The Miz.

"What the hell is this crap?" John watched on as AJ was truly put to the test by trying to defend herself from these voicemails. He was almost absolutely certain that he and the Geek Goddess were just really good friends, weren't they? Once again, the Big Hungry interrupted John's thoughts.

"You'd better to get your head together John, or you're going to be a main-event shish-kabob come Survivor Series. Stop worrying about crazy chicks, they're not good for your system. If you don't, you'll lose your spot as the face of the WWE, to someone like me." Ryback roared, and then marching to the beat of his own drum, stormed out the locker room to catering.

"That day ain't coming anytime soon, jack," John muttered to himself, turning back to the TV. He listened to the final voicemail of it saying that him and AJ should be together, and that was the final straw. Tired of having his best friend put through the wringer, he stormed to the gorilla position, cuing a producer to hit his music.

John Cena's music hit and the 10-time WWE Champion stormed down to the ring without a salute in time to see Dolph mocking AJ Lee.

"What was more unsatisfying AJ? The fact that John won't talk to you anymore, or all those disappointments you had in his hotel room?" the Showoff sneered, with a big smirk to boot.

John quickened his pace and once he slid into the ring, and went straight over to Ziggler to attack, only for AJ to get in the way, and hold him in place with her hands on his chest.

"John no! I got this, don't you worry," she said with a small, crazy smile. Spinning on her back heel, she turned around and smacked Dolph in the face with one of her powerful patented slaps, knocking the taste out his mouth.

John mouthed to AJ "watch this" before delivering a vicious right hand to Dolph, laying him out as he rolled out the ring. "Take your stupid briefcase too!" John barked, throwing it out the ring as Dolph crawled up the ramp, with Vickie already ahead of him. Things were just beginning to heat up, that was for sure, but she wasn't done by a long shot at all.

November 12, 2012 8:39pm

John Cena and AJ both headed backstage and stopped in an empty corridor so that they could both talk.

"You alright AJ?" he asked with genuine worry. AJ simply nodded and smiled, while John huffed.

"I just don't get her problem with you AJ. Is it jealousy or something? Jeez, I can believe that those two would sink that low just to try and 'scandalize' us!" AJ nodded in agreement.

"I think that's how your phone was taken. Your run-in with Aksana, that is. She probably pulled it out of your pocket when you weren't looking or something," she said, as John shook his head. "Damn it, I gotta stay focused. I got a title match this Sunday, and I'm stuck dealing with this crap," he complained, AJ stifling a small laugh.

"I'm sure you'll do fine hun, Vickie will be in the rearview mirror by then, if she could fit. Some images much larger than they actually are," she said giggling, and earning a chuckle from her best friend beside her. John sighed while putting his hands on his hips.

"And to think, all of this over something that never even happened, something that never would happen," he commented, earning him a surprise look from AJ. She raised an eyebrow and almost as if it was a suggestive question asked, "Never would happen?"

John, catching on to AJ's look, gave a slight chuckle and grinned. This girl was starting to give him butterflies in his stomach. He reworded his words carefully. "Okay, over something that never happened," he finally said, a look of relief appearing over AJ's face.

"I gotta uh—I gotta go—" he pointed to his left, tongue-tied by the petite Diva beauty. Was she just now trying to come onto him? He didn't know, but AJ waved bye to her best friend as he headed off and she smiled. Things were starting to heat up between them, and although she felt like she wasn't thinking straight, she knew one thing that her heart definitely desired.

She wanted John Cena.

**November 12, 2012 10:36pm**

As soon as John Cena went through the curtain after the match, he was greeted with a big hug from AJ. "You did it! I knew you could beat Punk! Now you just have to win this Sunday!" she said with a big smile. John nodded his approval at her excitement.

"Easy AJ, I'm still a little bit sore, but hey at least we're all still here," he said, earning a "HELL YEAH" from the nearby Sheamus and Kofi.

"I'll drink to that fella!" Sheamus barked, and Kofi said, "Yeah we should definitely go get some pizza tonight." He patted his shiny Intercontinental title proudly.

"Alright cool, call up Truth, Kaitlyn, and Layla. See if they all wanna come too!" AJ said excitedly. The gang was all here. John looked to his left and saw the Viper standing there in the shadows.

"Yo Randy, you coming? I know you want to, mushroom pizza's your favorite," he said, with a slight grin.

Randy shrugged. "Alright I'll come, but if that pig-headed girl AJ gets in my way, there will surely be trouble tonight." John shook his head. "I don't know what your beef with her is, but whatever man. See you there if you come. Meet me at my tour bus in 5 minutes." The group of friends all went their separate ways to go get ready for some pizza, movies and a lot of fun all in general.

One person who watched from afar with an injured arm, was the oft-jobbed Zack Ryder. Zack had a whole bunch of prominence around this time of year, last year, and now? He was just used as a filler who jobbed to the likes of Antonio Cesaro, Damien Sandow, and Alberto Del Rio. Quite frankly, it nearly broke his heart, to see all of his friends huddled up into one big group about to have some fun, and quite frankly, there had not even been not one mention of his name.

He was tired of being ignored by the WWE Brass, and quite frankly he was tired of being a jobber. Now to see his friends forget about him too? That was the final straw. He needed a push and he definitely needed it now. Before he set out to do anything, he was approached by a wall of black. Or rather, it was three figures in black.

The one in the middle appeared to have a slight crazy look in his eye, as he spoke first. "Hello Zack," he said. Zack looked at him slightly confused. Were these guys part of the roster or something?

"Who are you?"

The leader just laughed. "You can just call us the harbingers of justice around here. Things have been muddled for a while around here, and we're about to start making some damn changes," he said. The one the left had multi-colored hair chimed in as well. "That's right, and we've noticed how down you've been. A once-proud United States Champion dwindling in the lower midcard," he said.

"What the hell do you guys know about that?" Zack shouted.

The leader spoke once again. "We know that it's quite an injustice. People like John Cena and Randy Orton rule the WWE, while people like you get no credit or chance to shine whatsoever. We're here to correct that," he said with a grin.

This time the enforcer with the muscles spoke. "Go see Eve Torres. She's part of Booker T's management and the Divas champion. She has pull," he said.

"That's right," the multi-colored haired one spoke. "You might not like it since she broke your heart, but it's the only way you know," he said.

Zack reluctantly nodded. He understood what he had to do. He was going to have to go over to the woman that broke his heart, just to beg and ask for a push. He was going to have to swallow his pride. Was he doing the right thing? He didn't know, but all he wanted was to be champion again. They forced his hand, and now he was about to act upon it.

"Who are you guys anyway?" Zack asked before leaving.

"Dean Ambrose."

"Seth Rollins."

"Roman Reigns."

Together they said, "We are the Shield." Zack reluctantly nodded once again, before leaving. He hoped he was doing the right thing, because that group creeped him the hell out.

**And there you guys go! Chapter 8! I'm really going all out here. I want to include everyone's favorite wrestlers in this story while keeping up with the main stories going on TV. Hope I'm doing a good job. By the way, is there any other couples you guys would like to see in this? Let me know. Once again, thanks to all my wonderful readers, fans, and reviewers. Keep reading, and tell a friend about this story! Enjoy the Slammys!**

**#CenLee**

**#Slammys**

**#Whataburger**


	9. Class and Trash, Part 1

**Wow, what a Raw that was! We are officially on the Road to WrestleMania now! How great was that Rock-Punk promo? It was epic! It was so great that it gave me a boatload of ideas for this fic itself, so I'm extending this thing all the way to WrestleMania! Hope that's good news for you all, because these next couple of chapters are about to get heated! Sorry for the short hiatus, but thank you to all the fans who faved, followed, and reviewed. Please continue to do so, as they mean a lot to me! Here we go! (:**

**Chapter 9: Class and Trash, Part 1**

**November 18. 2012(Survivor Series)**

A very physically pained AJ Lee made her way from backstage to the hallways, wrenching her gut in pain. Her intent was to go out there and embarrass the woman who was making her life hell, Vickie Guerrero. She had succeeded to a certain extent, but on this night, It was Vickie who had the trump card up her sleeve, in the name of Tamina Snuka.

Tamina savagely rushed to the ring and delivered a powerful Samoan Drop to the petite Diva, and followed that up by squashing her with the Superfly Splash, making her father proud tonight. Needless to say, this was not the night that she had envisioned for herself.

Still holding her gut, she tried to make her way to a certain Cenation Leader's personal locker room, but she was stopped by quite possibly someone would consider the biggest jerk on Earth, the WWE Champion CM Punk.

"Hey April, you don't look so good," Punk grinned, adding insult to injury. AJ seethed through her teeth at her former flame. "Punk, shut the hell up. I am so not in the mood tonight."

Punk mocked a feign hurt expression before actually laughing at the Geek Goddess. "Hey it's your fault. You shouldn't have been out there challenging authority. You're no rebel. Save that for people who actually have a cause around rebelling, such as myself. You should respect it while you're at it."

AJ shook her head at the champion. Was this really the man she was into way back in the summer? He seemed so different now. "Don't waste your breath or get your hopes up Punk, because after tonight, that's gonna be the only thing you're clamoring for." She pointed to his WWE Championship.

Punk scoffed at her idea. "You seriously think that Superman in there is going to beat me for this title? Or that overgrown, overfed, overrated monster Ryback? Wow, I guess I got it right back then, and now. You really are crazy." With that last insult being thrown into AJ's face, he turned on his heel and walked away.

AJ, fighting back stinging tears and lingering pain, immediately rushed into John Cena's locker room and slammed the door shut. This immediately alarmed John, who was slowly doing warm-ups for his match. As soon as he stood up, AJ ran over to him and jumped into his arms.

John wrapped his humongous arms around her as he began to cradle her head, and stroke her hair. "AJ, what's wrong?" he asked, worried.

AJ let go and looked at the ground. "It's nothing, just a very bad night. First Vickie set me up, and I got ambushed, and then Punk laughed at me…" John's fists clenched at the name of his rival as the thought of him hurting AJ invaded his mind.

"I'll be fine though." AJ's voice interrupted his clouded mind, once again putting it at ease.

Her eyes travelled over to his ring gear. "New gear huh?" John nodded with a smile. "Ten years I've been here baby. Ten years strong, so let's see if I can make it ten more, huh?" AJ nodded with a smile as John used his thumb to push her long hair back behind her ears.

"Good luck John!" she shouted, as he saluted to her, and went to the gorilla position. AJ smiled at herself in the locker room mirror. She truly believed that she had found the right guy. But the question was, how was she supposed to go about the situation, without looking suspicious with the scandal investigation?

**Elsewhere**

Three men stood near the top of the skybox, garbed completely in black. Unbeknownst to the world, these three had formed an alliance and were about to make an immediate impact on the WWE Universe. They were like mercenaries in a way, only they worked for themselves, and nobody else, fighting in the name of justice, to bring forth righteousness in a WWE world that was unjust.

The mouthpiece of the group Dean Ambrose looked to his partners Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. "Tonight boys, we do this. We start our rise to the top and the fall of tyranny around this place, and what better way to do that than to take out the chairman's chosen pet, right?" Ambrose said with a sinister grin.

Rollins chimed in. "I agree. He's the biggest injustice of them all. He's done nothing to earn that title shot, so I say let's knock some sense into him."

Reigns nodded and simply said, "Bring it on."

**CM Punk vs John Cena vs Ryback**

Ryback was in complete control of the match and was showing off his utter dominance against the top two stars in the WWE. After hitting CM Punk with the Shell Shock, Ryback went after John and delivered the same move to him, with even more impact, the crowd wildly chanting "FEED ME MORE!"

Before Ryback could even attempt the pin though, three men immediately jumped the barricade and pulled the monster out the ring, stomping and clawing at him. As Michael Cole blared out to the audience and the viewing world who these three rookies from NXT were, Ambrose had an ingenious idea cross the crazy mind of his.

He and Rollins took the top of the announcer's table off, and Reigns immediately caught on to what they were doing. "Give him to me!" he shouted. Reigns, with Rollins and Ambrose's help, immediately set Ryback up and delivered a powerful Triple Powerbomb through the announcer's table. Meanwhile, Punk crawled into the ring and picked up the pieces by pinning a laid-out Cena to remain the WWE Champion for the 364th consecutive day. "Best in the world!" Punk screamed to the crowd, pointing to himself and the title.

**10:16pm**

John rubbed his back in pain as he made his way to the back, only to be greeted by Sheamus, Zack Ryder, and AJ Lee.

AJ rushed to John and immediately helped him sit down. She couldn't believe the night they were having tonight. "Are you okay John?" He nodded without saying a word, and she wrapped her small arms around his torso, trying to show her care and provide warmth to him.

Sheamus shook his head. "Talk about a crazy night, huh? Ah got screwed in meh match and won by disqualification, AJ gets attacked, and then John, you and Ryback get screwed over by some rookies dressed like the SWAT team. This is crazy." Zack gulped in silence as he watched his friends talk. He had known the day the Shield spoke to him, that they were up to no good.

Normally, he would have just walked the other way, but the word 'injustice' was a very great word to describe just how he was feeling these days about his career. The Shield told him to say nothing, and he was going to do just that. He still needed to go see Eve, to try and get more options, but mostly a push, and he was regretting everything he was doing so far.

His thoughts were interrupted when AJ's voice entered his thoughts.

"I don't know who they are, but they're probably in league with Vickie or something. And Tamina and Dolph too," she said, clenching her fists. "I should call my friend down in NXT, he'll be—" John put his hands on her shoulders, calming her down. "Hey hey, let's not get too hasty now. One battle at a time. I'm probably out of the title picture now, but it leaves me free to help you fight off this scandal crap against AJ and Vickie. Sheamus, you need to worry about winning back that World title, so don't worry, these rookies will get theirs."

Sheamus nodded in agreement. "Yeh got that right, fella," he said, that Irish grin returning to his face.

AJ Lee clapped her hands in glee, which made John smile for the first time all night. "Agreed! Now come on, let's get out of here. Sheamus said he's buying tonight, so the first pint's on him!" AJ exclaimed.

John chuckled as the three headed out of the arena, forgetting that a loning Zack Ryder was actually still there, forgotten about by his friends yet again.

**November 19, 2012 7:46pm**

Vickie had a now huge enormous smile on her face as she had concocted her most brilliant scheme ever. She hired two fake witnesses from the hotel the WWE stayed at that night, to 'describe what they saw' happen that night. From sneaking around, to making obscene noises, to being naked and having sex in the car, Vickie thought she had had it all together. That was, until AJ came storming down to the ring.

AJ yelled. "Vickie, what the hell is all this crap? This is all complete garbage! John and I did nothing that night! Nothing at all! So if you're going to continue to waste your time trying to prove a scandal that never existed, then do us all a favor and shut the hell up!"

Meanwhile, countries away, Chris Jericho sensed an odd disturbance going on in his head. His friend Scotty patted him on the shoulder. "Everything alright Chris?" Jericho nodded. "It just feels like someone is using my catchphrases again. I think someone let out another clone…"

Back to Raw…John Cena made his way to the ring, just as steaming mad as AJ was. "Vickie, what is this? Is this your attempt to try and embarrass us? Ruin our reputations? Because all of this, it's a load of crap! Why/ Because you want to get people talking about something. This is how you get people talking," he simply said. John spun around to face AJ, and simply said "AJ, I hope you don't mind."

What on earth could he have meant by that? All AJ knew, was that something sensational was about to happen, and her heart was pounding way faster than a normal human being's heart should pound. Goosebumps crawled up her back as John's left hand wrapped firmly around her waist and his right arm hooked her into his grasp. He angled her head at an angle, before doing something AJ had always wanted in the deepest desires of her mind. He kissed her.

It was a nice, serene, sweet and slow kiss and fireworks were popping off in her head. You could even hear the reactions backstage of their friends and co-workers with Sheamus possibly yelling "fellllaaa!" at the sight of his two friends kissing each other.

John finally disconnected his lips and turned back around to face Vickie, prepared to finish his point. AJ however, had other plans. John had set off a side of her that had long remained dormant, to be specific the crazy side of AJ. Crazy Chick AJ.

She spun him back around and immediately attacked John Cena's lips with kiss after kiss, until she finally found her groove and started to connect. Hers were hot and fast, and she really seemed to be into it, and eventually John got into it too, smirking against her lips and wrapping her legs around his waist. If things continued at this rate, a scandal was going to be the least of their worries. A bed was going to be a top priority, but Vickie immediately motioned for a certain blonde-haired superstar to rush the ring and attack Cena….

**We shall pick up with chapter 10 really soon! Dolph gets involved, locker room brawls ensue, injuries occur, Zack goes to Eve, and Randy goes ham! Plus, the emergence of Damien Sandow and his thoughts on CenLee, and more! Stay tuned, thanks for reading, review and see you soon! (:**


	10. Class and Trash, Part 2

**Hey guys, and welcome back to Next Level! Don't know about you guys, but the 20****th**** anniversary wasn't much to brag about, but the cage match was great and the Rock was hilarious! He destroyed Vickie! But now that that's done, it's time to get into the next chapter of Next Level! What shall happen now? Let's find out…**

**Ch 10: Class and Trash, Part 2**

Tamina and Dolph Ziggler both stood backstage, behind the show curtain. Vickie had arranged quite the plan in order to set up both John Cena and AJ Lee, but so far it was backfiring in such a major way. Nobody had counted on the scenario of the two supposed victims making out in the middle of the ring, and Dolph shook his head in utter anger. In fact, he was so angry, he superkicked the cameraman who filmed the Backstage Fallout segments for WWE on YouTube.

Tamina glanced over and saw the enraged look emanating in Dolph's eyes, and truthfully she sort of liked it. "What's your problem?" she asked.

Dolph looked at her with a blank look. "What's my problem? What's my problem? I'll tell you what my problem is! I am so damn sick of being so damn sick, that's what it is! How can these hypocritical fans cheer for somebody who had an affair with his boss? It makes no damn sense!"

Tamina nodded in agreement as Dolph ranted on. "It's only a matter of time before that crazy chick AJ makes John Cena her whole entire world, and he comes making it crash down, like always!"

Before Dolph could continue, Tamina looked at the monitor and noticed that Vickie was making a signal with her hand. "Dolph, that's your cue! Go do what you have to do!"

"With pleasure."

Dolph immediately rushed the ring while both John Cena and AJ were both still making out. He had an intent to make Cena hurt, and that's what he planned on doing. Sliding into the ring, he started to throw stiff lefts and rights at the Cenation Leader, but sadly it was a mistake on his part.

If there was one guy you never wanted to get into a brawl with, it was John Cena. John got the upper hand, kicking Dolph in the gut and clotheslining him right out of the ring. Backing up to quickly catch his breath, vision still hazy from that intense kiss, John slid out of the ring awkwardly and immediately twisted his meniscus in his knee as he pursued Dolph straight to the backstage area.

By the time he got to the back, Dolph had already escaped and was long gone by now.

"Shit!" John yelled, angry with himself for getting distracted and letting the bleach blonde superstar escape. A trainer immediately noticed John doubling over in pain, and helped him over to a seat to help get him examined.

AJ, literally burning rubber, turned every corner in the hallway until she finally found John Cena. She quickly hugged him, trying to avoid contact with his knee. "John, I'm so sorr-" John put a finger to her mouth to silence the Geek Goddess.

"It's okay, it's my fault. I let myself get distracted and now I'm paying for it. Another injury you can add to the list, I guess," he chuckled, holding his right knee in pain.

"But John, you're in pain, thanks to my actions. At least let me help you feel better," AJ mentioned.

John quirked an eyebrow up. "Okay, I'll bite. How?" AJ grinned at his questionable tone, and bit her finger a bit. "Like this," she said.

AJ wrapped her arms around John's head, giving him slow kisses on the lips, and John was happy to comply, lips cooperating with AJ as they made a passionate scene, all the warmth making the pain to John's knee numb out. They would have continued on but…

"Well, look what we have here. I thought AJ was the crazy one."

John pulled his head back to see his friend, the Viper, Randy Orton standing before them.

"Hello AJ, how are you doing today? I see you've already started doing damage. Poor John," he said, shaking his head.

John sat straight up, glaring at Randy. "This again? Really Randy? AJ did nothing wrong, that was completely my fault, so what the hell is the matter with you? What's your problem with AJ?"

Randy shook his head, a killer silent smile crossing his features. "I told you AJ was a black widow, John. She ended Bryan's reign in 18 seconds. She got called crazy by Kane of all people, and then she nearly ruined Punk's title reign. She's bad news John."

AJ immediately stood up to Randy and started to square him up. "I'm not the one who hears voices in his head, so clearly you're the crazy one, Randy." Randy let out a brief laugh before glaring down at AJ. "Do us all a favor AJ. Stop trying to make all the men in the locker room your victim, okay?" He started to stalk away, but AJ got his attention when she said, "Maybe I'll actually make you the next victim!"

"That's enough! Randy, get the hell out of my sight! AJ, go find Layla or something. I need some peace and mind to think to myself!" AJ looked at John with sad eyes, before nodding and skipping away to find her friend. Randy, on the other hand, just shook his head at John. "John, I'm your friend, so heed my advice. You're looking for love in all of the wrong places."

With those words, Randy walked away, leaving John in an immerseless cloud of thought for the time being. Was he really right? Was having feelings for AJ a bad thing?

**45 minutes later…**

John was listening to Sheamus tell him yet another story about his favorite show Father Ted, when Layla came zooming down the hallway at an enormous rate.

"John, Sheamus, you have to do something!" she yelled out, without stopping between breaths.

"Whoa, easy, what's the crack Layla?" Sheamus asked. Layla responded swiftly.  
"It's AJ! She went to go confront Dolph Ziggler, in the men's locker room all by herself!"

John's eyes grew wide. Was she really this crazy to attempt a stunt like that? Sheamus placed a hand on his shoulder. "No John, yer still—"

"No Sheamus, I'm not hurt! I have to go help her!" John sped out of the room without them to track down his…well more than a friend but less than a girlfriend, for the moment.

When he got to the open men's locker room door, he saw AJ swinging away on Dolph Ziggler, hearing that he also called her trash.

"AJ, AJ it's me John! Take it easy!" He wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her away, but that left a vulnerable spot for the Zig man to attack. Once again, the two brawled, but this time, Dolph kicked the injured knee of John, leaving him even more vulnerable. Dolph immediately speared John through the bathroom stall and laid out the Cenation Leader, still stomping on his knee before being pulled away by the refs and Prime **Time** Players.

Referee Chad Patton called for trainers to immediately come and help John, while AJ sat viligant at his side, silently weeping at the sight of an injured John Cena, feeling as though she had just placed an injury-prone curse on the man.

Santino Marella walked into the room, looking at all the damage, and shaking his head. "Sonuvagun! That was my favorite stall too! You's all ruined it!" AJ looked up one quick moment before sending the Italian Stallion into Dreamland with the shining wizard.

**November 20. 2012 6:45pm**

Zack Ryder stopped at the door, and took a look up. It read 'Smackdown Management' and he took a deep breath. He didn't want to do this, but at this point, what choice were his friends and the WWE leaving him? He slowly knocked on the door, and a female voice shouted, "Come in!"

Zack pressed open the door to find Eve on her laptop, with her legs propped up on the desk, chewing on the back end of a pen. "Hey Book—oh no, it's you!" she fell over in the chair, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Zack smiled at that sight.

"That's right, in the flesh baby. Woo woo woo, you know it!" he exclaimed.

Eve only scoffed at the famous catchphrase. She had gotten what she needed from him in the past, so why was this goof in her office? "What do you want Zack?! I'm not starring on your stupid web show, if that's what you're hear for."

Zack shook his head and sighed. This was going to be difficult. "I'm not here for that. I'm here to…ask for a push please." Eve's jaw dropped, before she burst into complete laughter, tears nearly rolling out in her eyes.

"A push? You want a push?! A push straight out the door and out of the WWE, sure!" Eve laughed incredibly hard.

"No Eve dammit! Listen to me! I helped you gain notice in the WWE, so why don't you help return the favor huh?" Zack demanded, slamming his fists on the desk.

Eve shoveled back a bit, surprised at his sudden anger. "Well, it might be possible…" Zack looked on. "I'll do anything!"

Eve quirked an eyebrow at Zack's now apparent begging. She could use this goof to her own advantage and take care of a few problems…namely AJ Lee. "Alright Zack, I'll help you get a push, under one condition. I already know the Shield sent you here, they told me about the meeting already. So you're gonna follow all of our instructions, you got that?"

Zack quickly nodded, excited that he was finally going to be able to get back in the United States title hunt. Eve snapped her fingers to get his attention.

"Eyes up here idiot. You will get your push, but we need you to get rid of AJ Lee."

Zack's eyes widened. But AJ was his friend, and was apparently dating John, or at least some people thought! "Fine…" Eve smiled to herself as Zack walked out the door. She was going to be the only attention getter around here, and nobody would ever take their eyes off the Divas Champion.

Zack pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a number, and a female voice answered.

"Hello?" "Hello, hey Nikki it's Zack."

Nikki smiled on the other end. "Hey Zack, what's up?"

"Nothing much, but hey I heard your high school reunion was this weekend right?"

Nikki nodded. "That's right, but I still don't have a date." Zack grinned. He would have accepted, but there was bigger things at stake.

"I got the perfect person who would be willing to go with you."

"Who?"

"John Cena."

**Dun dun dun! And we shall leave you at a cliffhanger for that one! Amazing huh? Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope you're ready for the next one! Also, in the reviews, tell me who you think is going to win the Royal Rumble, and you will appear in a future chapter as someone who tries to become Sandow's apprentice!**

**In the next chapter, John Cena takes on Damien Sandow, Sheamus and AJ get into trouble at a club, and more of the Shield's motives revealed, plus their confrontation with Orton! Stay tuned, and don't forget to review! Thanks (:**


	11. Paths

**Hey everybody, how's it going? I'm here to do a quickshot update, meaning this won't be a very long chapter, and it's setting up something huge for the next chapter to go down come the high school reunion! You'll see multiple characters in this chapter, and see their thoughts and views on what's to come. Remember you control the future, so you shall see what happens! Anyways, enjoy!**

**Chapter 11: Paths**

WWE Main Event

**John Cena glanced around the crowd, feeling the electricity in the air tonight as he went toe to toe with the Lord of Literacy himself, Damien Sandow. John had hit the 5 Knuckle Shuffle and was about to go for the Attitude Adjustment, but Sandow elbowed him in the face and countered with a terrific looking DDT. The Savior posed for the crowd, before he attempted his signature Elbow of Disdain. The move turned out to be his very undoing, as John rolled out of the way and locked him in the STF.**

**Sandow immediately tapped out to 'strategically save himself' from further damage. John got up with a huge smile on his face, as he posed for the crowd. Once he left, Sandow immediately grabbed the mic.**

**"Silence, you ignoramuses! How dare you chant for such a false idol like John Cena? A hypocrital, lewd, disgusting, caveman of a man. He is the very reason why our society keeps evolving backwards, and yet you continuously cheer him on when he panders to you all! I will have to make an example to you all if there is any hope of saving the denizens of you now, so I shall search for an apprentice, and you will see soon! You're welcome!" Sandow dropped the mic as his music played and he headed backstage.**

AJ ran over and approached John Cena, a huge smile on her face. "Good job getting Shakespeare out there to shut his yap for once!" she said, making John smile as well.

"Yes well, unfortunately when I left, he still continued to speak, but we can't win them all now can we?" he said, chuckling. AJ shook her head no as well. The duo started to walk together when Sheamus approached them.

"Hey lass, yeh got a sec'?" he asked. "Sure Sheamo, what's up?" AJ asked.

"Well there is a darts game going on at this bar tonight. The winners get ah brand new Father Ted DVD set and ah complete set of Pokemon cards," Sheamus said, a huge grin crossing his features.

The very last sentence got AJ's attention. "Complete set? Count me in! See you tomorrow John!" she waved to him as she took off with the Celtic Warrior to get over to the bar and win that prize.

John chuckled and shook his head. What an amazing girl she was turning out to be for him. Feelings were starting to circle in his gut about him, and while he hadn't considered himself a relationship guy, AJ sure as hell was making him rethink that whole situation. Before he could gather more thoughts, his friend Zack Ryder approached him rather quickly.

"Hey broski, I caught you just in time! So you remember Nikki Bella right?" he asked.

John nodded. How could he not remember the hot pair of the Bella Twins? "Well, they are having a high school reunion out there in Arizona this weekend, and Nikki wants to know if you could be her date to the party," he said. Zack had his fingers crossed behind his back, hoping that his plan could be put in motion if John said yes.

Naturally, John smiled and nodded. "I'd love to go and be her date to the reunion." Zack fist pumped in victory as he pulled his phone back out. "He said yes Nikki!" The squeals heard from the other side of the phone told John the entire story, and he smiled to himself. He was sure it was going to be a fun time.

Not too far from a distance, Randy Orton listened on and nodded his head. So now John was dating a crazy chick while also going on dates with a former WWE Diva as well? What the hell was going on with the world? Randy felt the obligation to help his friend do what he thought was right, and not get him into any trouble. As long as AJ didn't find out, things should turn out okay. He packed his gear into his bag and begin to Google tuxedos on his iPhone to have one ready for the reunion.

Not too far on the other side of the hall, stood the three vigilantes known as the Shield. The Shield had been watching this John Cena story unfold for quite a while, and they had witnessed many injustices happen during its time. Now, the golden boy apparently thought he would have the ability to date multiple women at once? That wasn't going to happen, not while they were around to bring the pain.  
"Boys, get your best SWAT suits ready. We've got a party full of injustice to crash."

Was everybody hearing this phone call exactly? Dolph ZIggler sure as hell heard it, and he punched the wall in utter frustration. Who the hell did John Cena think he was? First, he hooks up with AJ by making out in the ring with her, and then he decides to go on a date with Nikki Bella to her reunion? HIS ex-girlfriend? He wasn't going to put up with that at all. It was time to show-off. He was going to that party.

Daniel Bryan chanted yes repeatedly as he and Kane left the building for the night. "Would you please shut up?! I know you're going with Brie Bella to her reunion, but give it a break!" Kane roared at his tag team partner. Daniel kept cheering on, incredibly happy.

"It's going to be a great time Kane. And you know what, you should bring AJ as a date so that you can get in! It'll be terrific!" Kane looked at him like he was crazy. "Isn't she dating John?" he asked. He didn't want to double cross John, considering he hired them to protect AJ.

"NO! Of course not you monster. We're just her protection, and they said there was no scandal. He obviously kissed her to prove a point, that's it. Now go text her and ask her to come!" Bryan exclaimed.

"Fine, whatever." Kane wandered off as he called AJ, hoping she would go.

It was nearly 3am and the alarm continuously went on and off with the familiar catchphrase of, "If You Smell," and a big strong hand swatted the alarm off of the table. It was Miami's own, the Rock, finally free for about 4 days, before he began shooting on set for his next big movie. He looked down at his phone and saw that there was some type of invitation message on it. The message said that it was inviting the Rock to be the host for the Scottsdale High School ten-year reunion and that it would pay big money if he did come. They really wanted some entertainment, and it didn't get any bigger than the Rock right? Rock pondered whether or not he should go or not, before picking up the phone ready to give them an answer.

**Alright, so those are the characters to choose from! What you have to do is go to my profile page and vote for at least three of them to appear at the reunion, because I can promise, things are going to get crazy when it does happen. So vote for up to three people that you want to see appear at the reunion! Thanks and the next chapter is the Reunion, so look forward to it soon! R&R&V!**


	12. The Reunion, Part 1

**The R-Man with a plan and he's back in the building for this next sequence of events that is about to unfold in this story! Things are about to get a lot crazier now more than ever and I really hope you do enjoy this reunion! Thanks to all who voted and reviewed (:, so here comes chapter 12!**

**Chapter 12: The Reunion, Part 1**

As a long-stretched limo cruised its way through the streets of Scottsdale, in the back end of it sat the gorgeous Bella Twins and their dates for the evening, John Cena and Daniel Bryan.

Nikki Bella looked over to John Cena with a smile on her face. "John, I just wanted to thank you for coming with me on this date. I really appreciate it." John nodded at her comment, smiling.

"Hey, we're on good terms, so I'd say it's all good. Plus, a guy would be a fool to turn you down," he said, slightly taking in her body and making her nervously blush a little bit.

"I'll say," Brie, Nikki's twin sister, interjected. "I was going to be mad as hell if my sister came without a date. It was bad enough that her idiot of an ex-boyfriend Dolph Ziggler kept trying to get himself invited to come along." John rubbed his chin at the thought of Ziggler trying to get his way with Nikki and immediately shuddered at the thought.

"Well, you don't have to worry about Mr. Ziggles. Ryback is taking good care of him for the weekend," John said, laughing. He laughed at the thought of Ryback chasing Ziggler through the WWE HQ basement, as part of their under-the-table deal for Ryback getting John's Hell In A Cell title shot.

"Too bad Kane couldn't join us. His company would have been nice to have," Brie commented, earning a glare from Daniel. "Yeah, well I can tell you that the family emergency he had last-minute was pretty dire," Daniel quickly said. Daniel and John both knew the real truth though. They made a deal that having Kane and AJ come to the reunion would be quite the epic disaster, so Daniel took their plane tickets and ripped them apart, letting them fly out into the wind. Problem solved, hopefully.

John quickly nodded. "Plus you're the tag team champions, right Daniel?" "YES!"

Nikki and Brie both rolled their eyes at their dates as the limo finally pulled into the parking lot and they all piled out. What they saw at the door entrance was quite the surprise indeed.

"Randy?! What the hell are you doing here man?" John asked bewildered. Randy clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Well John, somebody has got to keep you out of trouble, am I right?" he said, slightly nodding his head towards Nikki. "Oh stop it Randy. Always the kidder aren't you? John and I will behave ourselves just fine," she said with a smile towards John. "Now let's go inside everybody! You too Randy!"

As they walked into the building, John gave Randy a warning glare, and the Viper stared just as coldly right back. Needless to say, tension was definitely starting to boil between the two best friends.

Daniel immediately dragged Brie to the punch bowl and began usurping huge amounts of punch like a starving man who hadn't drank in months. "Daniel, slow down! You're drinking like a goat face! Your beard will soak it all up and get everything hairy!" Brie yelled at her boyfriend. Some of the other guests immediately looked down into their cups and either threw it to the ground, or made a quick break for the bathroom.

""Say Nikki, how about we skip the punch bowl and just head for the dance floor instead?" John asked, to which Nikki obliged. "Yes please, I don't want to turn goat today," she joked.

John lightly took her hand and whisked her away to the dance floor where a few of the other couples were already dancing slowly to the song "U Got It Bad" by Usher, and were relishing in the moment. John wrapped his large arms slowly around Nikki's waist while Nikki graced her long, slender arms around John's neck as they danced together.

"I have to say, this is going way better than I could have dreamed so far John," she said, smiling against his chest, and John could feel it. "How so?" he asked.

"Well, I was frantically searching for a date, and I couldn't find one. I mean, it got so bad to the point where I was on dating sites, and even asking past exes out, including—"

John finished the sentence for her. "Dolph Ziggler. But Nikki, why didn't you ask me sooner? Or any of the guys in the company for that matter? Plenty of nice people to choose from. Kofi, Justin, hell even R-Truth would have been happy to come and get this place hyped up and popping," he said, earning a laugh from the twin sister.

"Yes, but I wouldn't have known how they would react. Plus, I have to admit, there's a certain way I always felt about you, but I was never brave enough to act upon it when I was still with the WWE," Nikki said. "And then I heard about you and AJ dating," she added solemnly.

John shook his head in disbelief. Vickie's outreach of this 'scandal' had spread way beyond the company now. It had started to affect the way his friends had really thought about him, and he truthfully didn't like that.

"Nikki, that's a storyline. There's no truth to it at all. AJ and I are just friends, that's it," he told her boldly. If only he could get himself to believe the words coming out of his mouth. "Really?" Nikki asked hopefully, a glimmer of brown shining In her eyes.

"Yes, and if you don't believe me, let me show you what I mean," John said. As "Sexy Love" in the background by Ne-Yo played, John prompted Nikki to lean up on her tiptoes and he enveloped her lips into a passionate kiss. It felt so light, yet so graceful. Nikki had never felt a man kiss her like this before, and it was making her explode inside with glee, giddiness, and excitedness all rolled up into a ball of one.

As John and Nikki kissed, Randy leaned not too far away taking a picture quickly with his iPhone 5 before slipping it back into his pocket. This was sure to come in handy later that evening. Randy had overheard Daniel's plans about ditching Kane and AJ, so asking a buddy of his from high school, she got some new tickets made for him and forged. Randy had then sent them to Kane and AJ, courtesy of "Daniel" because the old ones had gotten destroyed. Sure, they'd be an hour late, but better late than never, right?

John and Nikki finally broke apart, and before any more words could be said, the DJ cut the music and grabbed the microphone.

"I hope everybody's having a good time tonight, and sorry about the punch as well. From my understanding, a goat was let in the building? Well, not to worry, we've called animal control so they will be here to take the goat away shortly," the DJ said.

"I am not a goat face! I am handsome!" Daniel yelled out loud at the DJ.

"Sure you are," the DJ smirked. "Now then, it is my honor and privilege to introduce to you guys the man that is going to be hosting this event and taking you all to the next level of entertainment. We paid a pretty penny to get him here, but—" The DJ was cut off when music automatically hit the building and a familiar theme blasted into everybody's ears.

**IF YA SMELLLLLLLLLLL WHAT THE ROCK…IS COOKIN'!**

John stared at the stage in disbelief as his one-time rival came from behind the curtains, a huge Hollywood grin on his face, as he took the microphone. The former students and everyone in the building went nuts as they knew exactly what he was about to say next.

"Finally….the Rock has come back to Scottsdale!" Rock said in electric fashion. John groaned as Nikki and everybody else clapped on.

"Aw come on Johnny, don't be sad, it's the Rock!" Nikki clamored. "I know, and that's exactly why I'm not happy now," he commented.

Nikki giggled as the Rock went on. "The Rock says, he sees lots of former students from Scottsdale in the house tonight. Some of you probably are doctors and lawyers now, and some of you are probably still high school virgins, but the Rock says it's all good, because tonight we're all gonna have some pie!" The guys screamed "HELL YEAH!" to that comment.

"The Rock knew you would all agree," he said with a grin. Before Rock could continue, the unwelcome sight of a scraggly beard and white suit reminiscent from Raw 1000 appeared in front of the Great One.

"Hey long time no see, Oompah Loompah!" Rock said. "Now if you don't get out of the Rock's face, he's gonna take his size 15 shoe, shine it up real nice, turn it sideways, and stick it straight up your furry goat ass!"

Daniel didn't budge at all. "NO! NO! NO!" Brie shook her head at her boyfriend as the Rock delivered a Rock Bottom to Daniel once again, as he rolled off the stage, back in pain.

"The Rock says let's get this party started!" Rock shouted. Simultaneously, a wave of fire shot up into the sky, signaling the arrival of one Kane and his date.

**Outside the Building**

Kane and AJ pulled up rather quickly in their rental car, as AJ's perky and speedy wreckless driving had gotten them there in record time.

"Come on Kane! I don't want to miss the festivities that the Bellas invited us to!" AJ exclaimed, full of joy. Kane grumbled as he rolled his eyes and got out of the passenger's seat.

"Why the hell do I have to wear this stupid suit? I hate reunions! But at least it's not a family one…"Kane grumbled some more, AJ laughing.

Her smile all but disappeared when she noticed who exactly was waiting outside the door. Their eyes made contact with each other and Randy let a slow, cold grin creep onto his face while AJ glared at him like he was a human pin cushion just waiting to be stabbed. Kane picked up on the staredown quickly as well as they approached.

"Orton, what the hell are you doing here?" Kane asked. Randy deliberately ignored Kane's question, instead turning to AJ. "Hello AJ. I see you've shown up to ruin another party, just like you have other people's careers," he commented. AJ practically hissed at the Viper.

"How dare you! I've done nothing to you and yet you continually assault me with these harsh verbal jabs, so what the hell is your problem with me Orton?" AJ stepped right into the Viper's zone and squared up with him, but Kane pulled her back.

"I'll tell you why, I'm looking out for my people. Like right now, because my people are in there having a good time, no thanks to you two. So I'm going to keep you from going through that door," he said, crossing his arms.

This time Kane stepped up. "If you want a fight Orton, then you got one. Just remember what I did to you and your father last year. This time the pain is going to be even worse though. If you wanna play with the Devil's Favorite Diva, you gotta go through the Demon first, or get burned."

Randy only scoffed. Was Kane really being serious right now? "Kane, I would love to take you out of your misery with an RKO right now, but this has to do with AJ not you, so shut the hell up." AJ pulled back on Kane's arm before he could go ballistic.

"Alright Orton, start talking before I go crazy," AJ warned. Randy only pulled out his iPhone and pulled up the picture he took from earlier in the night, before showing it to AJ, whose brown eyes widened in deep surprise.

"What the hell is this crap?! That can't be John..with Nikki can it? You forged this, didn't you Orton? I wouldn't put it beneath you to do such a thing," AJ said, eyes growing even wider.

Randy only laughed in slight surprise, more of the laughter coming from the amusement of AJ being frantic. It was...enjoyable. Mesmerising. "Right AJ, because I have the time to fly out to a reunion all the way out in Arizona, and photoshop a picture of John with Nikki. You really are a crazy chick, aren't you? Quite delusional as well, I can see. Kane, call a doctor."

"Fuck you Orton."

"No thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to this evening's festivities. I believe the Rock is holding a pie eating contest and I can't miss out," Randy said, turning on his heel to leave. As soon as he opened the door to go back inside, AJ caught a glimpse of the very man himself that she adored, John Cena, standing in an expensive suit next to who? You guessed it, Nikki Bella.

Not even Kane would be able to hold AJ this time as she shrieked like a bat, and immediately made a break for Nikki. John's eyes widened at the sound but he was too slow to react. AJ attacked Nikki with a spear, and the two ladies engaged in a violent catfight. They brawled through the building, smashing up lockers, knocking over the punch bowl and the tables, everything in sight. That was when Randy saw Bryan rubbing his back in pain from some previous assault, and decided to stir up the pot even more.

"Hey Kane, by the way. Those new tickets that you got? Those were from me. Daniel ripped up your old ones to try and prevent you guys from making your way out here. So you're welcome," Randy said, walking off to be in solitude down the hall.

Kane turned his masked face towards Daniel and glared, who looked extremely surprised to see Kane, but tried to play off the shock. "Kane! Hey buddy, you made it after all!" Daniel said with false glee. Kane reached out and grabbed Daniel by the throat.

"Who the hell do you think you are, leaving me behind?!" Kane yelled as Brie looked on in absolute fear. "You thought you could ditch me and AJ, and go travelling around, telling everybody that you're the tag team champions? Well, you thought wrong!" With that, Kane chokeslammed Daniel to the floor, and started to continually punch him in the face.

Brie looked to the side, and noticed that Nikki and AJ were still going at it, both ladies' dresses now half-ripped. The Rock watched on in pure spectacle as he kicked back in a chair and watched everything unfold. "This is crazy. At least I'm getting paid for it all, right John?" he said, looking to the side and seeing an angry John Cena glaring.

"You think all this is funny? I'm caught up at a fucking high school renunion with two girls fighting over me, friends fighting each other, and you're sitting on your Hollywood ass getting paid for doing nothing!" John yelled in frustration.

"Yeah, well this Hollywood ass kicked your candy ass at Wrestlemania, didn't he? Once in a liftetime jack!" John and Rock glared at each other heavily, until sounds of a megaphone began to echo throughout the halls.

The voices through the megaphone got everyone's attention, even Randy's. And then, just like that, the lights went pitch black...

**Alright, that's the end of part one! I hoped you all liked it! I tried not to make it too comedic, but some parts just couldn't be helped(Team Hell NO is pure comedy). But this reunion is gonna be doing some extreme foreshadowing for the future of this story, so see if you can catch on! Anyways, read, review, comment, subscribe, follow, whatever it takes!**

**This week, The Ron says the CenLee spotlight fic of the week goes to "Dangerous Liaisons" by Feistyfearce. A thrilling, suspenseful fic that will most definitely keep you on edge so feel free to check it out! It's my favorite of the week!**

**One last note...THE ROCK IS CHAMP! WOO!**

**-Ronnie**


	13. The Reunion, Part 2

**Well well, come one and come all, welcome back to Next Level! Hope you guys all enjoyed that first chapter, because now the stuff is really about to start rolling in! I now have a bit more free time than previously(time to find a new job), but besides school, everything's fine. Hope you're all doing well and get ready for the Elimination Chamber PPV Sunday. But anyways, here's chapter 13!**

**Chapter 13: The Reunion, Part 2**

The lights had gone out and everything was completely pitch black now. Brie screamed her head off.

"Who turned out the lights? My goodness, someone turn them back on!" Daniel Bryan, who had recovered from his beatdown, comforted Brie while looking towards the Big Red Machine with fire in his eyes.

"Kane! Use your supernatural powers and start us a fire!" he screamed, squinting in the dark. Kane just laughed and shook his head.

"After you stood me up, you expect me to help you?" Kane asked, then tossed his head back and laughed some more. "Sorry goat face, but you live and you learn, so you're going to have to live with your decision. Besides, I like the dark a lot better."

Randy, who had reentered the room, rolled his eyes. "Somebody just turn on the damn light before I start knocking out everybody with an RKO," he threatened.

"Maybe since we have the most electrifying man in all of entertainment in the room, he can light it up for us!" John jokingly beamed, taking a serious jab at the Rock standing next to him.

"John, you need to know your role and shut your mouth. The Rock will do this favor just once, because all the people need the Rock to help, so here goes," he said. Pumping his fist into the air, the lights suddenly came back on.

"You see, it's just like the Rock said! He works—" He was interrupted by cries for help coming down the hallway. The entire group rushed down to see three figures in black quickly dart away after they beat down a helpless man. The man was holding his knee in pain.

"Help me! These three rogue thugs just attacked me and injured my knee. I don't think I can move on my own," he said. John leaned down with Rock and they both lifted the injured man to help him up. As they started to go back towards the main party room, the lights began to flicker again before shutting off completely.

5 minutes later, the lights came back on, but a shriek was still heard. "Oh my God! Where's Daniel?!" Brie screamed. John and the Rock set the injured man down in a chair before proceeding to rush around a corner where they found the Shield taking it to the tag team champion. The biggest one of them all, Roman Reigns had delivered a vicious spear to Bryan, right through the concrete wall. He roared with fiery intensity as the lethal Seth Rollins and sadistic Dean Ambrose looked on with devious smiles on their faces.

"Hey, get away from my partner!" Kane yelled, running over to help Daniel out. Before he could get right over to the Shield, the lights flickered and everything faded into darkness once again. When they finally turned back on once again, John and company looked over to their left to find Kane laid out after being put through the punch bowl table. "Hey John," said a creepy voice about ten feet away. John looked over to see Ambrose and Rollins as well both standing over the body of a fallen Randy Orton.

"Do you believe in the Shield yet Johnny?" Ambrose said as a twisted grin grew on his face. John shook his fists furiously.

"The only thing I believe in right now is kicking your ass! How's that make you feel?" John said angrily. Rollins only laughed. "How does that make us feel? We feel great! We know this because we know that you can't get the job done anyway! You are the biggest injustice of all time, Cena."

Reigns cracked his knuckles together as he entered the group as well. "BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD CENA!" he roared before Ambrose began laughing maniacally.

"What in the blue hell is the Joker laughing about now?" Rock asked John, who shrugged, still focusing on the three foes right in front of him.

"Well you see Great One, I still have one more trick up my sleeve for tonight's events this evening. I know John is sure to enjoy this," he said, rubbing his hands together.

"It's such an injustice to see two ladies fight each other over a guy, much less over you Cena," Rollins said. "So we went ahead and did them a favor. We are going to help cleanse them of their injustice John, you hear me?"

Reigns nodded. "Yeah John, no longer will they be fooled by you and your cheap one-trick pony schticks anymore. Ambrose, show them the trick." The lights began to flicker once more, before they finally shut of f completely.

John and the Rock looked around in complete dark space before they finally turned on once more and that was they saw that baffled them. Reigns had kidnapped Brie Bella and tied her up, throwing her in the back of a Shield SWAT truck, while up above had a sight that almost made John want to cry in disbelief.

Dangling above from the very balcony of the building were both AJ Lee and Nikki Bella, both held up by some type of pulley system designed by Ambrose, who laughed maniacally.

"I told you Johnny, I had one last trick up my sleeve! Dangling for their lives 20 feet high are the loves of your life, and they are both 20 feet apart from each other!"

"Let them go jabroni!" the Rock yelled out upward. Rollins laughed as he stood next to Ambrose. "Jabroni? You're the jabroni of injustice Rock! You wrestle only twice a year and get paid millions! How the hell is that shit fair? You're as big an injustice as Cena there!"

Ambrose nodded. "Now then John, here's what you do. You choose one person, ONLY ONE, to save, and the other falls to their death. This is the game of injustice you chose to play John. But nobody ever said justice didn't have a price. So choose."

"You stupid sons of bitches. I hate you, all of you! I'm gonna beat you within an inch of your pathetic lives!"

"Petty threats will get you nowhere Cena," Rollins said. John looked over to Rock.

"Rock, can you go save—" Rock cut him off. "Nikki? Yeah the Rock can go save her. He knew you had a thing for AJ. Sure thing jack."

John went near the end where AJ was, and Ambrose grinned. "It looks like the hero's made his choi—" he cut himself off mid-sentence as he saw the Rock hustling over to try and save Nikki.

"What the fuck? Somebody stop Mr. Hollywood right now!" Rock was nearing Nikki, and as Ambrose started to pull the lever for Nikki to fall, Reigns bum rushed the Rock, crushing him with a devastating spear that left the Brahma Bull holding his gut in severe pain.

AJ had already fallen and John barely managed to catch her. When he did, he could see the tears rolling down her eyes in a matter of seconds. AJ had never even been so afraid in her life. Not even her crazy side was ready for something of this magnitude. John looked over to see Rock rolling over on the ground in pain, and see that Nikki had began to fall at an enormous speed.

"No, Nikki!" John cried out. Was it too late?

**Sorry for the shortness. Lol told you the Reunion would get even crazier. Who knew that the Shield could be so sadistic huh? Brie's captured as well, and Nikki's falling to her death! What will happen now? Who will show up, if anybody at all? Stay tuned everybody!  
**

**CenLee spotlight fic of the week goes to "Forbidden?" by JFACFanatic. It's very intriguing and will have you guessing at every turn on what comes next! So stay tuned, more NL coming your way and collabs too!**

**-Ronnie**


	14. The Reunion, Part 3

**Welcome back to Next Level guys! First off, let me just say, new title belt! The Rock got to debut it! Now while I don't exactly love it, I don't exactly hate it either, but it's refreshing to see it! I'm hoping for a triple threat at Mania with Cena going over simply because it's the most logical way to complete the storybook ending! Now then, on to Next Level chapter 14! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 14: The Reunion, Part 3**

Nikki Bella had continued to fall to what was seemingly her apparent doom. She could feel her life flashing before her eyes as she continued her descent from the sky. All hope had completely seemed lost at this point in time, but that was before the unthinkable happened.

Roman Reigns, who had just taken out the Rock with a devastating spear, could hear the bloodcurdling scream of the twin sister and it immediately alerted his ears. Acting quickly and swiftly as if on instinct, he swarmed directly to the spot where Nikki was expected to have fallen and caught her in one fell swoop.

The screams were really getting on his nerves even after he caught her, but he put them aside for just that moment as he looked at her with wild Samoan eyes. The wildness in his eyes caused Nikki to stop screaming for just a moment, and they were replaced with clouds of doubt in her own.

"Reigns! What the hell are you doing?!" yelled Ambrose from the scaffold above. He had a twisted, pissed off look on his face. Rollins seemed just as mad as well.

"Yeah what the hell! You were supposed to let her fall to her death! It was the perfect serving of justice to fix the John Cena problem!" Rollins yelled. Reigns responded to them with a fierce roar.

"You idiots! We aren't trying to kill anyone! Just teach them a lesson!" The trio continued to bicker and argue, but what they didn't see was Bryan sneak into the back of their black van and pull out a tied up Brie Bella, and they fled.

Reigns was so busy arguing with his comrades that he didn't feel a presence creep up behind him. Spinning him around was the Rock, who made the savage Samoan drop Nikki so that she could escape. After she was at a safe distance, the Great One proceeded to drop Reigns with a thunderous Rock Bottom, making Reigns crawl away.

"Yeah that's right. You and the Rock may be of the same blood Reigns, we may be cousins, but at the end of the day, you're still just a punk ass bitch, and as long as you're in the Rock's kitchen, you will continue to get served. If you smell what the Rock is cooking!" Rock shouted.

Rollins and Ambrose pulled Reigns into the black van before swerving in a circle and taking off as quickly as they could. As they drove away, Ambrose yelled something to John Cena in the wind. "You're the problem Cena! You are an injustice and we won't rest until we put you out of your misery!" Ambrose said, his angry face twisting into an evil, devilish like grin.

John sighed and looked around at all the damage that was caused. The Shield had really done a number on them, and they were definitely sporting the bruises of war this time around. John looked to his left and saw Randy holding his head in pain, struggling to get up, so being a friend, John offered his hand to him. Randy stared at his hand and slapped it out of his face. "I don't need your help John. I don't need anyone's help," the Viper snarled, finally making it to his feet with the help of the wall.

"Whoa, you need to chill out. No one told your ass to come out here anyway Randy, so I don't see what you're so mad about," John challenged. Randy's look on his face turned to one that was even colder.

"So you're blaming me for all your troubles now? Is it my fault you led a crazy chick on this entire time? Is it my fault you accepted a date with one of our former co-workers, knowing damn well that it would come back to bite you in the ass? I was trying to look out for you!" Randy shot back.

"If you were so supportive, you wouldn't have been so rude to AJ! You would have saved her from Ziggler trying to kidnap her backstage! That's just it though Randy! You say that you watch my back because you're my friend, yet at the end of the day, the only person you care about is yourself. You're a cold hearted snake, just like your nickname suggests!" John was fuming right about now. He didn't really have time to deal with Randy at this point in time.

"You know what Cena? You really are an ungrateful bastard. You're the golden boy, you're the flag bearer. I guess everything is supposed to get handed to you right? You're the most perfect thing since that idiot over there, Rocky. Is that what we're supposed to believe? Because I sure as hell don't. I'm sick of people like you and AJ hogging up our screen time, with this ridiculous scandal. Everybody knows you fucked her! Why can't you admit it already?!"

"Because there is no fucking scandal! AJ and I never did a damn thing together and the only reason you keep watching my back is so that you can have her to yourself!" John was now literally screaming, whether it was with a passion or not. Randy was immediately silenced, but John continued to yell on.

"You do these things to her, because you're just trying to drive her crazy like Punk did! You like her, you just won't admit it! Well you know what? You're not going to have her, I promise you that Orton. You'll have to rip my head off and seer the flesh and skin off my bones if you ever want to come near her. That's not a threat, it's a promise!" John finally finished, in a low threatening tone.

Randy looked at John with deadset eyes, and a look that could kill. After a silent staredown, he slowly walked out the door without another word being said. Things were far from over there though. John turned around and his eyes had met the gaze of a distraught Nikki Bella.

"I thought you said you didn't care about her John," she said in a soft tone. John sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Nikki, I—she's my friend, and I just—"John tried to manage, but Nikki interrupted.

"Tried to what John? Play me? Say that what you guys had on TV was just a storyline? I knew it was too good to be true!" she said, tears threatening to fall. John tried to pull her into an embrace, but she quickly pushed out of it and slapped him hard in the face.

"I never want to speak to you again!" she said, quickly kicking off her heels and running out to the car to wait on Daniel and Brie. Brie looked at John and shook her head.

"Don't look to me for pity. You hurt my sister, and you deserve the wrath of a titan to squash you right now. I hope Ziggler kicks your ass." She walked off, storming towards the car, and dragging Daniel Bryan along as well, who kept screaming "NO! I don't wanna go!"

"That stupid goatface, I'm gonna rip his beard off!" Kane yelled, before lifting his arms up and throwing them down in a blaze of fire. When the smoke cleared, Kane was no longer there anymore.

That left just John Cena, the Rock, and a silent AJ Lee there in a empty building as the rest of the partygoers cleared out.

"Well, the Rock says he definitely got more than he bargained for signing up for this party," Rock tried to rib, but John just wasn't feeling it.

"You telling me, this is the worst night of my life, period. Now I got a scandal and some mercenaries on my ass to deal with," John said with a groan.

Rock chuckled. "Take it from me John, there will be worse days. You may have lost a potential love interest and you may have some new people on your tail, but come on now. You can defy the odds. You've done it in the past, so there's no doubt in the Rock's mind that you can do it again."

John opened his ears more and actually started to take in more of what the Rock was saying. It was actually helping out quite a bit. "Take care of business John, and win the Rumble. The Rock wants to face you at WrestleMania, in a rematch for the ages. Once he takes the title from that Straightedge stick CM Punk, the Rock can get hyped to beat you a second time."

John huffed. "Alright Rock, you're on." He extended his hand out in a sincere gesture, and the Rock gladly shook it. "Until twice in a lifetime." The men both nodded, a somehow newfound respect for each other being formed as the Rock turned to leave.

Before he did however, he pointed to one AJ Lee, who had finally gotten up off the floor and stood next to John. John quickly understood what Rock meant, and then the Brahma Bull was finally on his way.

AJ pondered as he left. "The Rock's a pretty decent guy, don't you think John?" she asked.

"Eh, more or less. But AJ, I want to tell—" John tried to start, but AJ cut him off.

"I was pretty pissed off at what you did John. You left me high and dry to come out here on a date, a date that I hadn't even known about until Randy had shown me," she said, her emotions changing on her face.

"My first intention when I finally believed the picture Randy showed me was legit, was to take the nearest sai, and twist it in your gut like Elektra." John grimaced in surprise at the thought of AJ stabbing him in the gut, and even more so at the thought of her licking his blood off of the sai.

AJ continued. "That was before the Shield showed up, and took me hostage. I'll admit, I had never been so scared in my life John. It was freaky. Then they forced you to make that split decision on who you wanted to save, and you chose me." She repeated those last three words lowly to herself.

"It was then that I knew you truly did care about me. I know you're not the best at relationships John, and you probably wouldn't want to be around a crazy chick like me—" she stopped as she sniffled a bit.

John held her chin up to meet his, and he glazed into her warm brown eyes. "AJ, that's not true at all. I'd be damned if I wasn't lucky enough to have someone as amazing as you are."

Without even thinking twice, AJ wrapped her arms around John and John wrapped his arms around AJ's back and waist, and their lips collided in a thunderous, fiery, passionate explosion that could only make you feel like one thing: fireworks.

**Happy ending right? Lol you're funny. I've only just begun! From here on, look for the Rock to be a major player down the road. What role will he play in this? Now that John outed Randy's secret, what will the Viper do next? And just what does Vickie and Ziggler have planned for the Cenation Leader and Geek Goddess next? Find out in the next chapter as John Cena goes one on one with Dolph Ziggler! And also, Zack and Eve move into the next phase of their plan involving the Shield! Can you say more victims?**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing, stay tuned!**

**-Ronnie**


	15. Show Me What You Got

**Hey party people, welcome back to Next Level! Looks like WM29 is finally starting to shape up! I think Cena will beat the Rock at WrestleMania, and will go on to have a dominant year in 2013. Anyone see Cena vs Punk? Pure epicness right there. But now, get ready for Chapter 15, because this is where business picks up, so let's go!**

**Chapter 15: Show Me What You Got**

**November 26, 2012 7:30pm**

Zack Ryder took a deep breath as he stood before the general manager's office. He knew that behind the door was the one and only Eve Torres, personal assistant to Smackdown General Manager Booker T. She had told him to meet her in the office to discuss further plans for getting rid of AJ Lee. The reunion was definitely a perfect start, as having AJ away from the WWE for a weekend allowed the gorgeous bombshell to gain some of the spotlight she had lost back for herself.

Zack was well aware of this, but tried to pay it no mind as he had been on quite the roll lately, picking up victories over David Otunga, JTG, and Justin Gabriel. He had even managed to pick up a surprise victory over Wade Barrett, which was definitely huge for the Internet Champion.

Sighing, he knocked and walked into the office where Eve sat at the desk, waiting for him to have a seat. He sat down and the session was underway.

"Well Mr. Ryder, I would like to congratulate you on a job well done. You've stuck to the plan so far, and now you've earned your reward," Eve said in a graceful turn.

"I did? I mean, of course I did! Woo woo woo, you know it!" Zack cheered, before Eve yelled. "Shut up you idiot, damn!"

Eve cleared her throat before she continued once again. "I talked with Vickie, and she said that tonight, you're going to be facing off against Kofi Kingston for the Intercontinental championship," she said, waiting for Zack's reaction, which didn't fail to arrive late at all.

"Sick! I have a chance to become the IC Champion baby!" he cheered, starting to fist pump before Eve yelled again.

"Stop that nonsense right now, damn it!" She resettled herself, trying to regain her composure. "It's also going to be a No Disqualification match tonight as well. The Shield will be out there to help you so that you can't lose."

Zack blinked in confusion. "Why? I want a fair match against Kofi, one on one for the title. I don't need anyone's help." Eve shot a glare at Zack. "Because it's a part of the plan Zack! Or did you forget? If you don't like it, I can always put you in tonight's match against the Big Show. He needs some fresh jobbers," she retorted, her glare turning into a grin. Zack quickly shook his head, and Eve smiled at his reaction.

"Good, now go do something that will shock the world. Stick to the plan and you'll be the champ in no time," she said laughing, before kicking him out of the office. Zack shook his head in shame as he headed down the hall. He had to stick to the plan, or risk losing everything. It was either the push or nothing. And Zack was now all in for the push.

**Corridor, 7:49pm**

AJ Lee and John Cena were in the corridor with John leaned against the wall listening to one of AJ's stories from when she tried out for the WWE, and both were immersed in a good laugh. Things had settled down from the hectic weekend that was the reunion, and everything seemed to be on good terms for the Cenation Leader and the Geek Goddess.

AJ managed to stop laughing enough to look into John's blue eyes. When she looked in them, she always seemed to feel some calm course through her. She felt that John may have been the one that was the answer to keeping her crazy side under control and stay stable. The way he looked at her seemed to give her much hope in this as well.

"AJ, you alright? You look like you went daydreaming and never came back," John joked, elbowing her in the arm. AJ responded by punching him in the stomach, and smiled as John held his gut in pain.

"I never left sweetheart, and I couldn't have been any more better, thanks to you," she said, wrapping her arms around his body and holding on tight. John wrapped his arms around her as well, rubbing her long hair in the process. "You know I can't let anything happen to you AJ. You're too important to me, and everyone else here."

"Not everyone feels the same way you do about me John," she quietly said. "Well, fuck them," John simply said, earning a giggle out of AJ.

"Well well, if it isn't the two scandalous lovebirds John and AJ," said the voice of Vickie, who was being followed and backed up by her client and henchman, Dolph Ziggler.

"Well well, if it isn't the old hag Vickie, and her boy toy, Clorox Bleach," AJ readily quipped back. She felt like she could take on the world today if she had to.

"Real funny AJ. You're still a piece of worthless trash, remember? John buddy, you're only wasting your time with this one. Just like you were with my ex this past weekend. How'd that work out for ya?" Dolph said, chiming in.

John looked at the two opposite of him, and just laughed. "Nikki said that I was a lot better than you were, that's for sure. AJ knows," he said, chuckling before AJ elbowed him in the arm. Dolph just glared at him, before spitting into his face.

Before everybody could get rowdy and begin yet another brawl, Vickie yelled. "EXCUSE ME! Alright John, you think you can talk a good game and back it up? Then how about you meet Dolph out there for a match one on one to see who's the better man once and for all?"

John looked at AJ and then nodded. "You got it."

As the evil duo left, John looked at AJ once more and smiled. "Can I count on you to have my back out there in case Vickie comes out to interrupt?" AJ quickly nodded. "Of course!" The petite diva planted a quick kiss on the 10-time WWE champion, before skipping away with John staring hard.

"God bless America," he said out loud to no one in particular.

**John Cena vs Dolph Ziggler**

These two were definitely putting on a show, no doubt about it. John had gotten hit with the Fameasser by Dolph, but managed to kick out. He followed his own offense with a nice Fisherman Suplex and then a Side Buster. Pulling himself over to the ropes, he ascended to the top rope, hitting his signature leg drop, but Dolph kicked out. Before John could hit another move and get some breathing room, Dolph hit a super kick out of nowhere, and he thought he had the pin, but John mustered up enough strength to power out at the two tried to hit an elevated DDT, but John threw him off and hit a powerful clothesline on Dolph. As he attempted the Attitude Adjustment, that weak knee from a week ago gave out from under him, and he had to drop Ziggler to go the ring apron and hold his knee in pain.

All the while, Vickie made her way down the ramp and to the ring, intent on helping Dolph defeat John Cena once and for all. She hopped up on the apron and started to distract the referee, but what she didn't see was AJ charging right after her. She pulled Vickie off of the apron and they proceeded to argue before getting into a catfight.

While the referee was trying to break up the catfight, Dolph seized the opportunity to try and grab his MITB briefcase to hit John, but John used his veteran savvy to duck the shot, then lift Dolph up and slam him down with an emphatic AA for the 3 count and big win. AJ smiled a crazy smile at Vickie, as John's music played through the arena. Vickie, however simply screamed her frustrations as Dolph crawled out of the ring and limped after Vickie up the ramp, angry at himself for losing to John.

AJ slid into the ring slowly, as she watched John carefully stand on the turnbuckles, posing for the crowd and throwing his armbands and wristbands to them before finally getting down. She had to admit, she loved this sight and view of John, in more ways than one.

As John turned around he was surprised to see AJ still standing there, though he was aware that she did assist him in helping get the victory. He made his way to her in the center of the ring, not sure exactly what to do. After all, that kiss last week on live TV was one thing, but how exactly were you supposed to follow up a hot moment like that?

John opted for the 'cooler heads' approach, extending his hand out to offer a handshake. AJ looked baffled by the gesture, so she took matters into her own hands. She grabbed the sore wrestler's arms and wrapped them around her waist, while she hooked her arms around John's neck, and proceeded to make out with him once again for the second straight week. This one wasn't as well coordinated, due to John's soreness from his hard fought match, but nonetheless, he still enjoyed himself as he found himself kissing AJ back just as much. As their lips broke apart, AJ smiled and couldn't help but feel giddy about herself as she looked at John.

John took it a step further, grabbing AJ's hand and raising it in victory much to the delight of the crowd. He then took a bow as did she. Something was off with him right now, but AJ was loving it because it seemed he was acting a bit out of character, per say. A goofy grin appeared on his face, as he held the rope up for her to slide out before she helped him slide out the ring. They put their arms around each other as they walked up the ramp with John smiling for the camera, a big smile in fact.

They made their way backstage, and John tried to break for the tour bus, but that injured knee prevented just that and it allowed AJ to easily catch up with him. John groaned as he limped up the steps and into his tour bus with AJ following suit, closing the door behind her.

"Why the cries of agony John? Were you calling for me and about to c—" John put a hand over her mouth to quiet her. "Just wanna get some sleep, too much pain," he mumbled, kicking his sneakers off, but AJ wouldn't allow him to go to sleep. "No John, you're in pain! Let me help you feel better!" AJ complained as John laid down on his couch. "It's coo—" AJ finally put a hand over John's mouth to shut him up, as she pulled off her white tanktop and tossed it to the floor, making John's jaw drop in amazement.

"Now let me ask you again, don't you want me to help you heal?" AJ said, eyebrows popping up and down. John reached for a remote and pressed a button. The lights in the bus dimmed and the windows automatically closed shut.

"You bet your ass I do," John said, reaching for AJ and pulling her down on him, ready for a night full of pleasure and pain all within the throes of passion.

Outside, looking at the bus before the windows closed, was one pissed off Viper.

**Okay, hope I didn't ramble on in that one guys! But I had to set up what's to come for the next chapter! You'll be mightily surprised by what comes next! Zack Ryder vs Kofi Kingston in a No DQ match for the IC title! Also, some serious foreshadowing for Randy Orton and Sheamus next chapter. Thank you for everyone who continues to read and review, this story wouldn't be as successful if it weren't for all of you. And special thanks to you Feistyfearce(we are official now), my amazing girlfriend who inspires me every day, love you Torrie!**

**See you all again soon!**

**-Ronnie**


	16. The Turn

**Hey guys, I'm back, and so is Next Level! Thank you to all the ones who are reading, reviewing, and doing their thing. It's much appreciated! :) Now, sit back and relax, read and enjoy this latest turn of events in Next Level...**

Zack prepared for his upcoming no-DQ match with Kofi Kingston, stretching in the gorilla. He knew that the upcoming events that were about to occur were going to get ugly, boogeyman ugly. And he didn't like the Boogeyman at all. It teared him up inside because this was not the person he had wanted to become; if he were to end up turning on friends, he would have much preferred just being fed to other main eventers instead.

A hand touched his shoulder as he alarmingly jumped, only to see that it was his opponent for the night, Kofi. "Hey man, you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost," he said. Zack shook his head.

"No bro, just kind of out of it right now, but I'm totally pumped for our match tonight. It's gonna be sick!" he claimed, which Kofi bought into.

"Hey you know that's right man, and you can expect nothing but my A-game from me! I can fly! See you out there," he said. With that, Kofi grabbed his championship and headed through the curtains as his music sounded.

Zack took a few deep breaths. You can do this. Ignore everything else. Just do your best and everything will fall into place. At this point, it was all he could tell himself. He ran out to the stage as Oh Radio played to the rocking arena.

Once both men were in the ring, they shook hands and the bell sounded. Kofi immediately burst out of the gate with a springing clothesline, and followed it up with to front heel dropkicks. The offense had caught Zack by surprise and he had to roll out of the ring in order to catch his breath and construct a new gameplan.

A smile crossed Kofi's face as he ran against the ropes and dove through them with a suicide dive, knocking the Rough Ryder flat on his back as the crowd chanted Kof's name.

As Kofi began to dominate, Zack found the advantage he needed when Kingston went for a hurricanrana, but instead got powerbombed for his efforts. Reaching under the ring, Ryder pulled out two steel chairs. When Kofi got up, Ryder tossed a chair into his face and delivered the Rough Ryder, but Kofi quickly kicked out at 2. Getting slightly frustrated, Zack wedged a chair into the corner and sent Kofi flying headfirst right into the corner.

The resounding clank could be heard throughout the arena, but as Zack went for the pin, Kofi suckered him into a small package. Luckily for the Long Island Iced Z, he was able to kick out at the last second. The match had incredible spots, including Kofi setting up Ryder on the announce table, and delivering the Boom Drop from the top of a ladder.

As Zack and Kofi breathed heavily, each man picked up a chair and charged towards the other with no mercy in mind. The chairs hit each other in the head, and both men were out cold.

_Sierra! Hotel! India! Echo! Lima! Delta!_

The familiar entrance theme now known to the WWE Universe sounded as the three men known collectively as the Shield made their way down the stairs in the audience and immediately hopped the barricade and surrounded the ring. Right as they did, both R-Truth and Rey Mysterio, friends of Kofi and Zack, made their way to the ring, just as Zack was collecting himself, breathing heavy.

"Come on Zack and Truth, we can take these guys," Rey said encouragingly. Truth nodded as well.

"Come in this ring Shield, so that you can get got!" Ambrose only showed a devilish smirk grow on his face. Signalling with a cock of his head, the three harbingers of justice immediately entered the ring and started to attack both Truth and Mysterio. With Kofi knocked out still, it was up to Zack to help them even the odds.

Zack gripped the top rope as he struggled to stand, silently thinking to himself in that moment, and thinking about Eve's plan. He could end it, and ruin Eve, and just walk out. He could help his friends...but was the beating really worth it? Why should he help Truth and Rey?

Rey Mysterio was a 3 time world champion who had long been in the spotlight, even for a man of his size. Wasn't it time for him to step aside? R-Truth, a man who was now at the age of 40, honestly had no business trying to chase a title. He had a chance, and honestly, who would cheer for a guy who was that cracked up in the head enough to talk to an invisble friend who was clearly not there!

He shook his head, now knowing what he had to do, and it wasn't going to be pretty. It was time for Zack Ryder's moment of truth.

The boos began as Zack stood aside, watching Truth eat a flying knee to the head from Rollins, and watched Truth get the hell speared out of him by Roman Reigns. They failed to see the Wildcat going to attack them from behind.

Quickly reacting, Zack picked up a chair again, and threw it at Kingston's face, The aerial sensation immediated crashed and burned. Reigns then roared, signalling for the Shield's signature triple powerbomb. This time however, it had a differentiation. Once Kofi was in the air, Zack leaped off of the top rope for a high flying Rough Ryder that knocked Kofi out completely. Zack went for the cover, and once the ref slapped his hand down for a 3 count, the universe became stunned.

Zack Ryder was the new Intercontinental Champion. But that was just the start of it.

As Zack celebrated his title victory, Ambrose approached him with a dark sinister smile, and pointed to Zack's purple headband. Zack caught on, and took the purple band off, tossing it into the crowd. Ambrose then reached into his pocket, and pulled out a brand new black headband.

Zack immediately put it on, and the WWE Universe had began to witness a shocking turn of events. The following statement couldn't have said it any better: "Zack Ryder, welcome to the Shield of Justice."

The Great White Sheamus shook his head with the most utter disgust as he watched what had transpired before him. Zack Ryder joins the Shield. It still couldn't register right with his mind. How on earth could this have happened? He wanted to get to the bottom of this; maybe talking to the young man would help get some sense knocked into his brain.

As Sheamus began down the hallway, his shoulders heavily collided with that of one Randy Orton. Randy's face grimaced as he saw who he had run into.

"Hey you big white snowman lummox, how about you stay out of my walkway?!" Randy fired. Sheamus was quick to fire back. "Me? Clearly you were the one that bumped into me fella, how's about you retract what yeh just said."

Randy huffed and only shook his head. "Clearly, you don't know how things work around here on the pecking order. I'm above you Albino. I'm a 9 time World champion. What I want, I get, and nobody stops me," he said in a cold tone, to which Sheamus bellowed a laugh.

"Yeah right fella, because AJ totally chose you over John," he said, as Randy slightly flinched in frustration. "Ya know what yer problem is? Yer ah snake, a damn Viper, yer name says it all. Why choose a snake over a soldier like John?" Randy's vein started to noticeably pop out in the corner of his head, and that only happened when he was really angry.

As Sheamus seemingly began to walk away, Randy finally spoke. "You know, I see what's going on here. I'm being replaced. You're John's new buddy now, huh Snow White? You're the guy he and AJ go out with all the time. To have a blast and wake up about it laughing the next morning. I've seen you go on double dates with them as well. You and that two-toned blonde seem to be getting pretty close don't you think?"

Sheamus immediately grid his teeth together and turned around immediately locking in his face with Orton's. "You mention her again fella, and I'll peel your snake skin so fast you'll make an onion cry. I'm gonna kick your arse. You're not the Randy we know anymore. Get your act together. Ya ain't right in the head." As Sheamus walked away, Randy smiled a twisted smile. He would get something together alright, but it wasn't going to be his head. IF he couldn't have AJ, no one could.

Roman Reigns took a deep breath and splashed cool water onto his face. Being a harbinger of justice wasn't exactly the most relaxing job, but it definitely was a necessary one. The WWE needed some change, and he and his band of vigilantes were happy to provide it. At the same time though, a voice deep within the back of his mind kept telling him that this wasn't the correct way of going about things.

Never in his life did he ever think he would be nearly responsible for ending a woman's life, yet alone two of them at that. His family would have never approved. He already knew his cousin the Rock didn't approve, but he had done the ultimate injustice in his eyes by leaving the WWE to go to Hollywood. And after all, they were cousins, and what was in their blood? Wrestling, not acting.

And just what the hell was Ambrose thinking when doing that? Sometimes, he didn't know whether to trust Ambrose or not. The guy was misleading often.

Hearing his stomach grumble, Reigns decided that it was time to get something to eat, at least from the vending machine. The bar at the hotel was closed by now. Walking down the hall and into the snack lounge area, his eyes slightly widened at the sight of a barely dressed Bella twin struggling to pull her Snickers bar out of the machine.

"Fuck this stupid machine!" she yelled at the inanimate object. Reigns held back a slight laugh as it was revealed that the twin was Nikki, the very girl he saved at the reunion. And just like that, his heart rate slightly picked up. The outfit she was wearing didn't help either, but he kept it cool.

"Looks like you could use a hand there. Twin magic won't work here," he commented, which made Nikki's face grimace.

"Haha very funny. I didn't know they wrote jokes on cereal boxes back in Samoa," she said, slightly satisfied with her comeback.

Reigns only laughed, albeit slightly. "That comeback had injustice written all over it. What are you doing here, anyway?" Nikki shrugged.

"Brie and I decided to resign with the WWE. They desperately needed us in the Divas division, and we were glad to help," she said, beaming now.

"I see...too bad that won't help you get your candy bar now will it? Step back." Reigns grabbed the machine and shook it violently until a bunch of candy and snacks came flying out the machine.

Nikki immediately grabbed all that she could and stuffed them into her small purse. "Thank you! I suppose..." Reigns walked up to her, and could smell her lucious scent fill his nose. Sweet lemons, and while he did that, Nikki could feel his eyes roam her ever-so-exposed body.

"I gotta go," she quickly said, feeling rather embarrassed. She quickly sprinted out of the room, leaving Reigns standing there scratching his head.

Why was this woman bringing out all types of animal from within him?

**Well, that was chapter 16! Like it? Because things are about to get a lot darker from here and even...M rated! So we shall see what happens! I have multiple spinoffs for different characters planned for after this fic, so if you'd like to write one of them, let me know! In the next chapter, the Bellas have a surprise for Team Hell No, Ziggler and Vickie make a new plan but backfires, a little Sheamus and Kaitlyn interaction, and we see exactly what Randy Orton has up his sleeve for AJ and John Cena! I'll thank all my reviewers by name in the next chapter as well. See you soon!**

**-RonRon10**


	17. Watch Your Back

**Hey party people, welcome back to Next Level! Business is definitely about to start picking up so I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Here's chapter 17!**

**Chapter 17: Watch Your Back**

December 12, 2012 7:49pm

Kane sat on the bench in the locker room in an eerie silence trying to find his focus and while he hadn't found it just yet, the Big Red Monster was just grateful to be away from his tag team partner for once, Daniel Bryan. It wasn't that Kane hated Bryan or anything, but whenever the submission specialist didn't get his way, he would immediately start to pout about it the only way he knew how: by shouting NO at everyone.

"Idiot," Kane mumbled to himself as he began to descent into relaxation, his locker room violently kicked open and Kane was greeted with the presence of his bearded compadre.

"Kane! You are not going to believe the news that I have for you," he said, a grin growing on his face. Kane scowled in response. "This better be good Daniel, or I'm setting your beard on fire."

"It's even better than you think, my big red friend, so say hello to our new travel partners, the Bella twins!" Daniel shouted, as the Bellas made their way into the locker room with huge smiles on their faces, which only made Kane groan.

"Daniel, what the hell is the meaning of this? You only brought them along because you're dating Brie." Kane was not happy at this point. Brie put a hand on the monster's shoulder. "Aw cheer up Kane! Nikki will be great company for you! Maybe even a great girlfriend as well," she added, throwing a wink towards her twin sister.

"You gotta be kidding me right? I don't need any travel partners, no help, and most of all I don't need a girlfriend! I'm a monster damn it!" With that, Kane grabbed his championship title and stormed out the door with red fury. Daniel looked at the Bellas. "Don't worry, he'll come around. He's just a loner," he said. Nikki nodded her head, but Kane wasn't exactly the monster that was on her mind right now…

**Vickie's Office 8:57pm**

Vickie Guerrero paced back and forth in her office as an errant Dolph Ziggler slumped into a chair, reading a magazine, bored as hell. He was starting to get fed up with Vickie, honestly. He had a briefcase that guaranteed him a world title shot, and yet he was still hanging out with the wicked witch of the west. Why was he even serving her? He could give a damn less about AJ, how was she going to affect his future? In no way, shape, or form was this going to turn out good at all.

"Dolph, I think I've finally thought of a plan that will finally expose AJ for the fraud she is!" Vickie clamored, getting Dolph's attention. Dolph groaned once again.

"Well, tell me your wonderful plan then Vick," he said sarcastically. Vickie didn't hear the sarcasm in his words, as she continued on. She brought in the Smackdown Assistant to Booker T, who now was apparently teaming up with Vickie to take down the so-called threat that was AJ Lee. When Vickie noticed the somber look on Eve's face, her eyebrows arched.

"What's wrong Eve? You look like Zack Ryder kissed you or something," she retorted, before Eve's face snarled. "Actually Vickie, this news I'm about to give you doesn't pertain to me. It pertains to you two in fact," she said, making Dolph's eyebrows raise.

"What the hell do you mean?" he questioned. Eve answered his question by pulling out an envelope from behind her. "This is what I'm talking about. Here, I'll read it to you."

"Recent performance reviews of your job were done by the Board of Directors Ms. Guerrero, and we have determined that you have unprofessionally been targeting John Cena and AJ Lee, treating them poorly and biased against them, instead of exhibiting the same judgment on the rest of the roster as you do them. Therefore, we have determined that a match is in order for this Sunday's TLC match, and Cena nor Ziggler have opponents. Dolph Ziggler will put his Money in the Bank briefcase on the line against John Cena in a Ladder match."

Vickie immediately screamed at the top of her lungs. "EXCUSE ME?!" She went into a tyrannical uproar and started to throw stuff everywhere. Dolph immediately went straight over to Eve and glared in her face. "You knew that this was going to happen, didn't you? You foolishly let Vickie in on this dumb plan of yours, and now you have mercenaries running amok, and you made that goof a damn champion!"

Eve shrunk back slightly in fear, but stood her ground. "Look, It was the only—" Dolph immediately slapped the clipboard out her hand and ripped the envelope apart. "I don't give a damn what way there was! This was supposed to accomplish two things: make me the biggest star on the show, and to get rid of AJ, but neither has happened yet, has it? Huh? Has it Eve?!" The attitude he was exhibiting towards Eve caused her to back away in fear and out the door, and made her fall down.

Dolph shot a glance towards Vickie as well. "Enough yelling Vick! Both of you fix this shit, or so help me, somebody's gonna pay." With that, the MITB holder stormed out the office, more ticked off than ever.

**Arena Back Entrance**

"So lass, yeh say ya like mustaches huh?" Sheamus said with a grin, propped up against the wall. The show was over, and Sheamus was hanging out with both Kaitlyn and AJ, waiting for some of their friends to finish getting ready. Tonight was definitely going to be a good night to party.

"Of course Sheamo," Kaitlyn said with a grin on her face. The attraction between the Irish-born wrestler and the Houston native had been growing recently, and AJ could see it. It warmed her unstable mind and crazy heart to see her two friends growing closer together.

"Hey you two, I'm gonna go to ringside and try to help John out. Stay fuzzy," she said, pointing to Sheamus' moustache. Kaitlyn jerked her best friend's arm back.

"Where are you going AJ? You know it's not safe in that ring. With only 6 days until TLC, you don't know what could happen," Kaitlyn warned. Sheamus nodded his head in approval. "Exactly AJ, so don't worry, I'll handle things from here." From what Sheamus could see, he saw the Shield turn down a secret corridor, intent on interrupting the match between John Cena and the World Champion Big Show.

"That's me cue. Later ladies," he said, and charged off after the duo.

AJ sighed to herself. She was tired of being held back. She only wanted to help her man out. But deep down in her heart of hearts, she knew that it was best if she stayed behind. She knew what men like Big Show, Ziggler, or the Shield were capable of.

Kaitlyn's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hey AJ, why don't we go for a walk around the arena? We're done for the night anyway, and I'm sure that John and Sheamus will meet us after the show once they get cleaned up." AJ nodded her approval at the suggestion. "Good idea."

So as the two Chickbusters walked alongside each other backstage, chill bumps began to appear on their skin. They couldn't shake the creepy or eerie fact that somebody was possibly watching them from a dark place somewhere.

The fear level rose even higher when a trash can rolled in front of them thunderously from seemingly out of nowhere, but their nerves were relieved when it was revealed that Hornswoggle was in the trash, just looking for some belongings. Kaitlyn nervously laughed, nudging AJ. "Guess leprechauns get hungry too, right?" AJ slowly nodded.

"Hey Kaitlyn, I think I have to use the bathroom right quick," she said, clutching her chest. "Um okay, I'll wait outside the door if you need me, okay?" AJ nodded, and then quickly darted for the women's restroom.

She immediately went to the sink and turned on the faucet, throwing water on her face to calm her nerves. "Don't be afraid AJ, it's just your imagination. Crazy, unsafe imagination, that is," she added, thinking to herself. Once the night was done, she could just relax in the arms of John on the tour bus and sleep the night away with a smile on her beautiful face.

"Nobody's gonna be a victim tonight," she said aloud.

"Oh, I wouldn't necessarily say nobody sweetheart," came a creepy voice from behind her. AJ's eyes widened in alarm, and looking in the mirror she saw a bathroom stall open. Sitting there, Indian style, was the Viper Randy Orton.

Instead of running, AJ immediately panicked, but had nowhere to run to once Randy blocked off all routes of escape. AJ was backed up against the sink, and the Viper had a malevolent grin on his face.

"So AJ, it seems you've once again caused more problems than you've helped solve," Randy said slowly. AJ glared at the sadist. "If you're talking about that Ladder match, that's Vickie and Dolph's fault. They shouldn't have made my life hell," she retorted.

Randy cracked his knuckles. "Really now? You don't cause hell for everybody? Does '18 seconds' ring a bell? Or leaving a man at the altar? How about being rejected by a crazy monster who makes everyone else's life hell?" he continued on. "Shut up Randy!" she fired.

Randy grinned. "What's the matter? Don't like it when the script is flipped on you, huh AJ? You're not the little unstable angel anyone makes you out to be. You're dark, sadistic…twisted. You have a root of evil in your veins AJ." AJ slapped him in his face fiercely. "Fuck you Orton! You don't know anything! John wi—"

Randy shoved AJ onto the sink with a fierce push. "John doesn't know shit. He can't make his marriage last, and while I was there to support him as a friend, you just went and made everything worse! With this stupid scandal!" AJ was now seething from the teeth. "There was no fucking scandal! What part don't you understand Orton? Do I have to sock it to all the voices in your head just to make you understand?"

Randy's facial expression turned irate as he impulsively ripped AJ's shirt off in half. "You calling me crazy? You ruin everything! You go all unstable and everybody adores you! I go crazy and people try to lock me in a damn ward! I'm tired of the spotlight being shone on you! It's time I put you in your place," Randy said, the sadistic grin gracing his features once again.

AJ couldn't fight anymore. Her arms were now gripped tightly and circled behind her back, and Randy crossed her feet together behind a tight pipe so that there was no way for her to escape.

"You wanna get crazy AJ? I'll show you how to get crazy. You said I could potentially be your next victim, but it looks like fate reversed your fortune huh?" He unsnapped the button on AJ's shorts and pulled them all the way down to her ankles. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she could now sense what Randy was about to do now. Randy unhooked her bra with ferocity and did the same with her undergarments as well.

He took a step back and admired the view before him. "Now I see why John enjoys you so much. You make a great little sex toy," he crazily smirked. "Well, welcome to Crazyville AJ. Hope you enjoy the ride," he smirked, and without further ado, entered her and induced a bloodcurdling scream for the entire arena to hear.

**Well that was chapter 17…what a weird way to end it. I had never wrote something like that before, so if it…eh just let me know what you think! In the next chapter, the aftermath of AJ and Randy, and John comes swerving with a vengeance. TLC is approaching fast! Stay tuned, R&R (:**

**-Ronnie**


	18. Don't Know You Anymore

Bienvenidos, and welcome back to Next Level. Thank you for all the reads and reviews to what was an apparent controversial chapter. I received quite the mixed reaction(John Cena would be proud) about that last scene between Randy and AJ. I understand it's one thing to be shocked about it or not be a fan of it. That's cool, but when you PM me personally to rant about the problem you have with me, well honestly, I could care less. My purpose to write is to entertain, and unleash my imagination like the website tagline says. Point blank, if I get a reaction out of you, then that means I'm doing an awesome job as a writer. Anyways, rant over. Got a lot on my mind, so kick back, relax and enjoy chapter 18 of Next Level.

**Chapter 18: Don't Know You Anymore**

The bloodcurdling screaming had finally stopped, and AJ collapsed to the ground to pure exhaustion and anguish, with a twisted smile covering Randy's face. He had definitely made her the next victim indeed. The bathroom door immediately kicked open, and the Houston native Kaitlyn rushed in and when she saw her best friend on the floor in a curled heap, her eyes angrily darted towards the Viper standing tall over her.

"Randy, what the hell did you do? Did you just—"she couldn't finish because she was at a loss for words. Randy only smirked. "Why yes Kaitlyn. I did do what you think I did. Is that a problem?" he asked, without a sense of remorse in his voice.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Kaitlyn asked, her voice cracking with emotion. "That was my best friend, you ass! Why did you assault her?" Her eyes began to drop tears, before turning into red orbs of anger. "I'm going to kill you!" She lunged towards Randy, only for him to sidestep her, and crash into a toilet in the stall.

Taking a heavy metal bar, he jerked it into a lock and jammed it, enabling Kaitlyn to stay locked inside the stall. "You're a feisty one, I'll give you that. I just might be back for you later. See you sweetheart," Randy said with a sinister smile. Opening the door and making sure that nobody had came by, he quietly slipped out of the restroom to do whatever else he had planned for the night.

**Brawl In the Ring, 10:55pm**

Chaos was ensuing all over the place at the moment. The people involved? John Cena, Sheamus, the Shield, Big Show, Team Hell No, Dolph Ziggler, and Ryback. Tables were being broken, the barricade corners were being burst through, chairs were swinging, and ladders were being launched at a high velocity. Team Hell No and Ryback had managed to chase the Shield off into the crowd, and Sheamus took Big Show to the outer limits into the parking lot, igniting their vicious rivalry for Sunday when they would collide in a Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship.

John Cena and Dolph Ziggler were going at it in a ruthless brawl. John got the upper hand however, when he hit the Zig man with a thunderous Attitude Adjustment through the announcer's table. Going over to the timekeeper's booth, he picked up Dolph's blue MITB briefcase. "This is gonna be mine Sunday," John said, tossing it on the prone body of the Showoff, and walking off with an angry look. Little did he know, this was going to be the start of a long night for him.

Meeting up with Sheamus at the locker room, the two friends got dressed and prepared to head out for a night on the town, but first they had to go get AJ and Kaitlyn.

"Ready for ah night a' fun fella? Ah hear karaoke is popular 'round the Brooklyn area," he joked. John shook his head with a smile. "Keep dreaming Sheamo. I just wanna see if you got the Irish potatoes to ask Kaitlyn out, ya chicken."

Sheamus rolled his eyes. "Of course John. Just watch meh," he said confidently. As the two turned the corner, a huge crowd caught their attention. Everybody seemed to be gathered around the women's restroom for some odd reason.

Sheamus tapped Justin Gabriel on the back to get his attention. "Hey Justin, what's the crack fella?" Justin shook his head with a sorrow look darting his eyes. "Apparently, there's been some type of attack in there," he said, pointing towards the restroom. The referees and other WWE personnel had blocked off that part of the premises, making it hard for everybody to get a look inside.

Sheamus, being a lot taller than the people present, was able to get a look inside and his eyes widened at who he saw. "John, ah don't think ya will like this fella," he said, concern in his voice. "What?"

John's question was answered when both AJ and Kaitlyn emerged from the bathroom, both with bruises on their arms. Luckily, Kaitlyn had had a spare Sheamus hoodie that she had worn, so it was able to cover up AJ's top when she put it on.

John and Sheamus immediately ripped through the caution tape and referees to get over to the two divas. "AJ, are you alright? What the hell happened?" John asked with intense worry in his eyes. AJ looked up into his piercing blue orbs, but couldn't even hold his stare as she looked back down at the ground and shook her head. John could have sworn that he had her whimper as well.

"Kait, you're not hurt, are yeh?" Sheamus questioned. The Houston native shook her head. "I promise you, AJ and I are fine, we just got jumped by surprise is all," she said, voice lowering with every word. As she looked to AJ, her best friend, she could read the look in her eyes, that was basically pleading her not to tell John and Sheamus what had truly happened. AJ was her best friend in the whole world, so while the guilt would rip her up on the inside, not telling anybody what went down, a sense of honor(in a way) told her not to betray her best friend.

"Who jumped you?" John asked, he and Sheamus looming in. Kaitlyn slowly swallowed and spoke. "Oh, you know. Vickie and her people like Tamina and Aksana—" John put his hand up to stop. "Wait, so you mean to tell me that Snuka bitch and that foreign chick with the assets attacked you?" His gaze turned towards AJ, who held her stomach in pain, but going along with Kaitlyn's plan, nodded her head slowly.

Sheamus watched his friend in concern as he gritted his teeth and started to pace back and forth fuming. Some of the company officials led the two Divas away to the trainer's room while the rest of the crowd started to clear out and get ready to leave the arena. "Sheamus, this is some crap. I knew Vickie wanted to get rid of AJ, but this is over the line. It's time we pay her a visit," he said with an angry tone in his voice. Sheamus obliged, cracking his knuckles. "Right behind ya fella."

**Managing Manager of General Managers' Office**

Vickie was busy packing her things away, lots on her mind. This Sunday was TLC, and with Dolph's briefcase on the line, her whole plan had the possibility of going up in smoke if John ended up winning the briefcase, and then she would never be able to get rid of AJ and make Dolph into the star that he deserved to be. If this failed, who knew what would happen next? At this point, Vickie would need someone to blame, because surely a Guerrero could never take the blame for doing something wrong.

Then a thought crossed her mind at that moment. There was another female who was also in a position of authority in the WWE: Eve Torres. She remembered when Eve had welcomed them in on her plan; she had similar plans as well to try and get rid of AJ, as she was tired of the petite Diva getting all of the attention and headlines for herself, so when Eve approached Vickie about joining forces to take out the Geek Goddess, how could she refuse?

But of course, it had been nothing but downhill since then. Eve's clients had seemed to be having more success, with the Shield taking out everybody and Zack Ryder turning heel, winning the IC championship. Meanwhile, all Dolph had done was suffer loss after loss in shunning fashion. Tamina too, had been getting the short end of the stick lately, losing to AJ in singles action.

She would definitely blame Eve if all had failed Sunday at TLC. Before her thoughts could run on even more, a knock came at the door. "Who is it?" she yelled out. The answer came in the form of a Brogue Kick knocking the door over.

"Us, that's who," John said in a serious tone, as they stepped through the door. "We need to talk. Your crusade has gone too far," he continued, but Vickie interjected.

"EXCUSE ME?! What crusade are you talking about?!" she screeched. "Don't play dumb witch. We know yeh sent yer Divas to attack Kaitlyn and AJ in the bathroom," Sheamus intervened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but unless you want to get fined, suspended, or pulled out of your important matches on Sunday, I suggest you leave, and don't ever think about barging in here again!"

John clenched his fists with pure anger and grinded his teeth. He wanted payback for AJ, but he knew he would be able to get that come Sunday when he faced Dolph in the ladder match. That would be the ultimate revenge there. Who said revenge wasn't sweet?

"We'll be leaving now Vickie, but don't think that I'll be forgetting what you did anytime soon. Payback's a bitch, and it's coming for you," he said, voice now calm as he walked away. Sheamus followed suit as well, not sparing one glance at the managing supervisor.

As the two friends walked out, they stopped for a moment when they saw who was waiting for them outside. It was the Viper, Randy Orton. He looked more darker, but more smugger than usual. "So tell me, what's the word on AJ? I heard her and Kaitlyn got attacked," he said, posted up against the wall.

John glared at him. "Why do you care? You never gave a damn about her before," he fired. "Hey look, you're my best friend, so I just want to make sure that this wasn't affecting you," he said, shrugging. Then, Randy turned his attention towards Sheamus. "Hey snowman, what's good?"

Sheamus glared at Randy as well. "What's it to yeh? I'm not exactly yer friend Viper," he warned. Randy only chuckled. "Hey, you won't hurt my feelings. Speaking of friends, instead of worrying so much about that unstable chick, maybe you should worry more about the "Ultimate Broski" Zack Ryder instead, since he's embracing the dark side." John's eyes widened. "He did what?"

"Didn't you hear? Zack joined the Shield. He was tired and sick of following the same old example that you set for a lot of us, so apparently he joined the Shield. Became Intercontinental champion too," Randy said. "Where the hell were you when all this happened?" Randy asked, despite knowing exactly where John was, more specifically, what he was doing.

Luckily, Sheamus interjected. "It doesn't matter fella, we need to go knock some damn sense in his mind, if it helps," he suggested. Randy only clicked his tongue. "Well sadly for you boys, he just left," he said, shaking his head. Before he walked away, Randy mentioned one last thing with a small, dark smile on his face. "Tell AJ and Kaitlyn I said hello, and I hope they heal up soon."

**Arena Parking Lot**

Nikki Bella quickly dug her things out of her locker and proceeded to hustle out to the parking lot before the arena closed on her. As she hustled out, the back end of her heel broke and she slipped falling down. Fearing for her back and preparing for pain, thinking she was going to hit the pavement, she was quite pleasantly surprised when she saw the strong muscular arms of Roman Reigns reach out and save her.

"You keep falling like this and we're gonna have to get serious," he lightly joked, earning a snort from Nikki. The Bella smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress before staring at the Rock's cousin.

"I'll have to take it under consideration," she joked back. "So tell me, where's your little crew at?" Roman shrugged. "They went out to celebrate the initiation of our newest member, Zack Ryder." Nikki's face grimaced. She remembered when Zack showed his true colors, turning on his friends and enlisting the help of the Shield to help him win the title.

"Why did you guys do that? You corrupted a good guy, and made him into your image. That's just wrong," she said, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "That was my friend." Reigns sighed before speaking again. "I may be a rookie around here, but we were doing what needed to be done. The guy was struggling, so we offered him a hand and he accepted. We never forced him to do anything."

"But you still persuaded him nonetheless," Nikki said bitterly. "I understand your quest for justice and all, but you shouldn't try to change somebody into your image. That's the ultimate injustice in my eyes. Honestly, I see a lot in you Roman. You saved my life when I thought John would, but didn't. I knew right then and there you had some good in your heart. So here's a tip: try listening to it," she finished.

Reigns looked into her brown orbs with deep thought. Had he heard her correctly? There was actually good in him? He didn't get to ponder for long, as a loud angry voice came calling from the tour bus.

"Nikki! You coming or what?" Kane called out. Not satisfied in giving her time to answer, Kane got off the bus and headed her way, but he stopped when his eyes landed on who was next to her. "Reigns," he growled. "Kane," Reigns growled back. The two powerful beasts of nature stared each other down with ferocious intensity, each knowing they would be able to get their hands on each other in the 6 man tag TLC match this Sunday. Nikki quickly interjected herself between both men.

"Guys please stop! Kane, I told you I was coming. Jeez, I thought you hated company as it is," she said snarling, before turning to Roman. "You, go somewhere okay Roman?" The Samoan beast only stared down Nikki, before finally nodding his head and walking off.

When he was out of sight, Nikki picked up her purse and followed the Big Red Machine to the Team Hell No tour bus where Daniel and Brie were waiting. And in the back of Nikki's head, she couldn't help but feel for Roman and the predicament he was in. She knew he wasn't a beast, but it seemed to definitely to be in his nature. So if she couldn't help but feel for the monster of the Shield, why did she feel that another certain monster was starting to take an interest in her?

**Well, that's gonna do it for chapter 18! This was officially the go-home chapter for TLC, so expect big things to pop off at the event! It's gonna be so big, I may have to split it up into a few parts, maybe. But, I hope you guys are ready. Team Hell No and Ryback vs the Shield, Sheamus vs Show for the World title, and Cena vs Ziggler for the MITB briefcase! So exactly what surprises await? You shall see…until next time, read and review, and thanks for reading!**

**-Ronnie**


	19. Just Another War

**Another day, another dollar, another new chapter of Next Level! Hope you are all enjoying the story, and with us now at TLC, here's where the fun can truly begin! You'll be in for some fun, some violence, and more shocking events as well, so keep your eyes glued, and dive into chapter 19 of Next Level!**

**Chapter 19: Just Another War**

John Cena pulled up to the Brooklyn Center parking lot with a smile on his face. He had a great feeling about him and he could definitely feel it in the air. Tonight was definitely going to be his night tonight. He was going to erase his name from the history books as the only man who had ever cashed in his MITB briefcase and fail to win the title. Of course, there were other things going on in his mind as well.

AJ had been acting quite odd around him lately, and on top of that, Randy seemed to be stranger than ever. Nikki Bella had been acting pretty quiet around him. Call it quiet intensity if you will, if looks could kill.

Nonetheless, John was going to let anything keep him down. He needed to have a clear head and focused mind if he was going to win the match against Dolph Ziggler tonight. As soon as he opened the locker room door, the last person he expected to be there was currently occupying the room as well. It was Zack Ryder.

"Zack bro, what's going on?" John asked, in a cheerful tone. Zack looked back at John with a blank stare, shrugged, and continued unpacking his things. "Hey come on, Zack. I heard you became Intercontinental champion. Congrats!" John pressed on. "Thanks," Zack simply said, and ignored John, patting his title.

John sighed. He really wanted to try and get through to his friend. "I'm sorry I didn't get to congratulate you sooner," he said. "I was kind of busy dealing with—" Zack cleared his throat, and cut him off.

"You mean dealing with Vickie and having sex with your little girlfriend AJ, right? Too busy to even notice your ol' pal Zack Ryder right?" John shook his head. "No man, you don't understand," John tried to explain, but Zack shoved him away.

"Just save it okay? I got the help I needed. I found vindication within the Shield. They helped me become the top performer that I've always wanted to be. Nobody else matters to me anymore but my friends now. The Shield are my friends John," Zack said, throwing his Intercontinental title over his shoulder. "And unlike you John, I'm actually a champion right now, so I'm pretty sure your word doesn't matter to me right now." With that last comment, Zack walked off, leaving John feeling a sense of dejection. Had things really gone that downhill while his mind was preoccupied elsewhere?

Kane turned the corner with an angry look on his face. He was on his way to the gorilla to meet his tag partners Daniel Bryan and Ryback, his allies who were going to help him take on the Shield in the 6 man tag match. While he didn't mind the help, Kane was just looking forward to causing utter destruction. After all, that is what monsters do best, right? He had his head held up so high that he walked right into Nikki Bella, knocking her flat on her back.

"Ouch! Kane, watch where you're going!" she scowled at him. Kane paused, and looked back at the Bella. "I'll try to look out for you next time. Sorry for being a 7 foot monster," he said with hints of sarcasm in his voice. "Very funny Big Red," Nikki said with a sarcastic laugh, and for some reason, the nickname resonated with Kane, making him smile a little.

"Good luck out there to you guys. Be careful with Ambrose, he's a looney. Rollins is a daredevil, so don't be surprised by the moves he pulls out his pocket. And Reigns?" Nikki paused for a second, as a small smile etched on her face. The smile didn't go unnoticed by the Big Red Machine, as it caught his silent ire as well. "Well, Reigns is a big devastating powerhouse. His spear is deadly, and—" Kane waved her off.

"Okay, I get your damn point! I'm leaving," Kane said, and turned on his heel to go make his entrance. Nikki sighed in slight frustration and a bit of confusion. Did she really upset him that much?

**Ryback and Team Hell No vs the Shield**

Needless to say, this was a total and brutal war. The Shield had managed to somehow isolate both Ryback and Kane, now taking out the smaller Daniel Bryan. Everytime Daniel tried to fight back with his kicks, Rollins would hit him in the back of his head, causing him to black out. Kane, who was now coming to, finally rose up and unleashed an angry roar.

Rollins tried to fly out the ring and attack him with a flying knee, but Kane delivered a well-timed uppercut, knocking the daredevil out to the side. Ambrose followed suit, but Kane caught him with ease and delivered a fallaway slam through a ladder that was set up next to the announce table, breaking it in half completely.

As Kane looked on with an evil grin on his face, satisfied with his work, he forgot about the powerhouse of the Shield in Reigns. Nikki's words resonated through his head just as Reigns hit the monster with a wooden table, knocking him clear over the announcer's table. Reigns' dominance wouldn't last long, as Ryback came charging through with a deadly Meat Hook clothesline, spilling the fight out even further.

Soon enough, Bryan and Rollins were doing battle atop two stacked stables, kicking each other with every inch of willpower that they had left within their bruised bodies. Ryback was taking Ambrose to school, powerbombing him over the barricade onto a front row of fans, with the crowd heavily chanting "FEED ME MORE!" Unfortunately for Ryback, Reigns rammed a ladder into his face, busting Big Hungry open and sending him sprawling about.

As Reigns and Kane prepared to square off, the Intercontinental champion Zack Ryder leaped the barricade, clobbering Kane down with a chair repeatedly, until the Big Red Monster couldn't stand anymore. Reigns motioned for Ryder to help lift Kane, which he did. Just as Kane was about to get powerbombed through the table, as Ryback was, Bryan came flying through out of nowhere with the flying knee. Before Bryan could execute more offense, Reigns threw him sideways into the ring.

Reigns' efforts were met with a savage uppercut from Kane, laying him flat. The monster had had enough of this match, it was time to end things. As he grasped Reigns by his throat to prepare for the Chokeslam, loud screams into a microphone pierced his mind and his ears as well. Kane turned around to see a sight so horrifying, even to him. In the center of the ring was a table, set completely on fire. Next to the table? A screaming Nikki Bella, handcuffed, squabbling next to an evil smiling, and sadistic Dean Ambrose. The Joker-esque villain grabbed a microphone.

"Hey Kane! Yeah you ya big ugly psychotic freak, eyes on me! Look around you Kane. Your partners are incapacitated,big guy. I got your girl by the way, she's quite the looker." Ambrose smirked, and Nikki glared. "Let me go, you big ugly joker!" she snapped, making Ambrose laugh. "Well thank you, Nikki, I didn't think you'd notice," Ambrose chuckled oddly. "Now Kane, if you want to save your little girlfriend here, I suggest you surrender, hm? What do you say?" Ambrose said, with an inquisitive grin.

Kane growled at Ambrose. "I say I'm gonna drag you to hell, you son of a bitch!" Kane rolled into the ring and eyes turning red, tried to reach for Ambrose, but the villainous heel grabbed Nikki and ducked to the side, behind the table, just out of the monster's reach.

"Let her go you bastard!" Kane yelled. "Why Kane, I thought you were supposed to be a heartless monster? Who knew you cared so much? Let's find out how much shall we?" Reaching outside the ring, Rollins handed him a pair of scissors, and Ambrose grinned.

"Snip snip, here we go," he grinned, and began to cut some of the Bella's hair, before Kane completely snapped. The Monster flipped the burning table over completely and it went flying well-placed into the corner. Before Kane could reach the psychotic renegade, he held up his land laughing. "Before you completely disassemble my facial features, I have a riddle for you Kane."

"WHAT?!"

"What was the name of Edge's finishing move?"

"The Spear, you dumbass. Wh—" Kane's question was answered when Reigns came bullrushing into the ring, spearing Kane right through the burning table for the 3 count and the win.

Ambrose tossed the struggling Nikki to the side, and raised his comrades' arms in the air, celebrating their big victory. Reigns' eyes darted towards a quivering Nikki, who had crawled over to check on Kane, who was completely broken. Rollins and Ambrose quickly dispersed into the crowd, seeing as how Bryan and Ryback were coming back to consciousness. Reigns looked one last time to Nikki, who returned the look, and with a scornful look at that, turned her attention back to Kane. Reigns sighed to himself, and dispersed into the crowd as well. He had let the beast loose again.

**Backstage**

John Cena was doing stretches, cracking his knuckles, and hitting the punching bag as hard as he could. He was ready for a fight tonight, and Ziggler was going to get everything he could handle, and then some. A soft knock sounded at the door, and John opened it, revealing AJ. "May I come in?" she asked softly. John nodded, motioning her in.

AJ placed herself on one of the chairs and sat down, staring at John calmly. John honestly didn't know what to say. The two hadn't talked in about 5 days.

"So AJ, what's up?" he finally broke the ice. AJ sighed. "You know, still healing up and stuff. Doctors said I can't compete for a little while," she said, sighing. "Oh. Well that sucks," John managed to say.

AJ looked up at John and furrowed her eyebrows. "That's all you can say? That sucks? Really?"

"Well I mean, what else can I say?" John asked, quite confused. "You're not very super right now, are you Cena? You can save the day by defeating the mighty Nexus or taking down the evil Legacy, but you can't even save me! I thought we-we—I though—" AJ couldn't even finish her sentence, as she broke down crying and fell right into John's arms.

"It hurts so much John. It hurts…" she said, tears rolling down her beautiful face. John just held her tightly. "AJ…I know things are probably rough for you right now, but I promise you I will make it all better for you. I promise. And it starts tonight when I beat Dolph Ziggler's punk ass in the middle of that ring, and take that damn briefcase from him. Okay? Put a smile on," he suggested, placing a couple of kisses at the corners of her mouth, making her giggle just a little.

"John stop," she said, trying to push him away, but John placed another kiss on her lips, making her smile just a little bit lighter. John could still sense the hurt in her voice, and something was telling him in the back of his mind that something had happened much worse than just an assault to AJ, but that was a thought that would have to be dealt with later.

"Well see you soon AJ, it's time for my match. Wish me luck," he said, and AJ grabbed his face, enriching his lips with hers, sealed it with a kiss, and even licked him under the chin, making John quirk an eyebrow. "What? It's for good luck," she smiled, as John headed out. AJ sighed to herself. She was going to have to do her best to put this behind her, if it was even remotely possible at this point.

**John Cena vs Dolph Ziggler Money in the Bank Ladder Match**

John Cena was absolutely obliterating the Show Off. He had rammed the ladder into the bleach blonde's face literally a dozen times, and had entrapped Ziggler within the ladder, punishing him with the STF. John was in full focus mode tonight, and nothing was going to stop him from erasing his name from the negative annals of history.

John even began to incorporate tables and chairs into the match as well, punishing the Show Off, and throwing him around like a ragdoll. Ziggler was really selling this beating well. If only people knew exactly how much pain John was putting him through.

John propped up the ladder, and was prepared to start climbing, but interference came down to the ring in the form of the Prime Time Players. John easily disposed of them by tossing a ladder towards both of them, knocking them out to the point where they could see little dollar signs dance around in circles above their very eyes.

John began his ascent up the ladder once again, but this time the Managing Supervisor herself Vickie Guerrero came bumbling down towards the ring. As she began to roll into the ring and try to push the ladder over, the crowd roared in approval as AJ came storming down to the ramp, clad in a John Cena shirt and all. She hopped the top rope and laid Vickie out in spectacular fashion, with a huge shoulder block.

She followed it up with another shoulder block, and then ended up hitting a Spin Out Powerbomb. Since Dolph was still laid out at ringside, John took a moment to watch as AJ posed for the crowd, and hit a 5 Knuckle Shuffle, knocking Vickie out for the count.

AJ began skipping around the ladder excitedly as John made his way up the ladder. He was going to do it, he was going to actually win! But AJ's sudden halt made John raise an eyebrow as he neared the top of the ladder. His eyes followed her frozen gaze to someone sauntering down the ramp. That sauntering was by none other than Randy Orton himself.

AJ stood frozen in fear and her heart began beating rapidly and her breathing was thrown completely out of rhythm. It was really him, and this time he was back for more. What could he want now?

Randy slid into the ring, stepping right up to AJ as tears began rolling down her face. Randy whispered something into her ear, and she began crying even more, despite Randy holding up his finger for her to be silent. Randy had angry look flash in his eyes, and what he did next made John scream.

Randy Orton delivered unto AJ an RKO.

"Randy, you fucking asshole!" John yelled, jumping off the ladder and began brawling with the Viper. Randy Irish whipped John into the ladder and jumped with tremendous height to deliver a thunderous RKO. Dolph, taking advantage of the situation, quickly scrambled up the ladder, and reclaimed his briefcase, before running away as the victor. Randy stood tall over the prone bodies of John Cena and AJ Lee, flashing his signature Legend Killer pose, as the PPV screen came to a close.

**Well, there you guys have it! Randy stands tall at the end of PPV, and John doesn't get his opportunity for redemption after all. What do you think all of these events are doing to AJ's psyche? She's not exactly stable these days. And even more angles continue as well in the next chapter! Get ready, because John is on to Randy now! Review, and stay tuned! Thanks for reading!  
**

**And be sure to check out some of my other fics, such as the Most Dangerous Game, Roses and Thorns, and Electrify Me! ThanksI (:**

**-Ronnie**


	20. Cold Front

**Happy Wrestlemania weekend everybody! Thought I would get at least one more chapter out to you guys before the PPV finally begins! So I thought this one through a bit, because TLC was huge, and I need to figure out what to do next before the Road to the Rumble begins. So without further ado, I present to you, chapter 20!**

**Chapter 20: Cold Front**

**December 20, 2012 12:17pm**

AJ Lee paced back and forth nervously and anxiously in front of the tour bus door, frantically panicking about what to do. This brawl was spiraling out of control and quite frankly, she didn't even know what to do anymore. She watched as John grabbed Randy's head and smashed his face through the window of the tour bus before throwing him down the steps.

"Ruin my chance at a championship, why don't you? I'll show you!" John leaped out of the bus and landed on Randy, punching the Viper repeatedly in the face, causing a black eye. Randy put his arms up to protect himself, but so far it wasn't exactly working as he had planned.

John kept throwing fists of fury relentlessly. "Not only did you ruin my title opportunity, but you hurt AJ too! I knew you were jealous of us, but you've gone too far Randy!" John yelled in pure anger. One last punch knocked the Viper into a stack of crates, and sent him to dizzy land.

John shook his fist off, feeling the effects of it, but knowing that he had succeeded in getting just an ounce of revenge against his now former best friend. AJ sighed, looking on at the damage that was being caused, all over her quite frankly. And the worst part was, John didn't even know what Randy had done to her. She knew she would have to tell him in due time, but seeing what she had just seen today made her wonder if she should really tell him at all.

Her train of thought was interrupted when John walked back up to her, placing the petite Diva into a long embrace into which AJ gladly melted into. "It's over now AJ," she kept hearing him say over and over, but instead of evoking a happy smile and cherishable moment, all it did was evoke hot tears and a near-breakdown right in front of John.

"AJ, what's wrong?" John asked, extremely worried. He pulled his head back a bit to look at her, and it tore his heart strings to see her like this. "J-John, I think you s-should know something," she said, fumbling while in tears. "What is it AJ? You can tell me anything," John assured her. AJ slowly looked up to John, and could truly see the sincerity in his eyes. She could trust him and tell him what happened. But she would never get that chance.

Randy finally regained his consciousness and stood up against the wall for balance. The warm tender moment that was about to take place between John and AJ would have been an atrocity to the Viper's scaly eyes; he couldn't let it happen. So he did what he did, the Viper struck.

"Hey John, before you go and fuck your sex toy again, I think you should know something," he said, smirking. John immediately spun around and he started to steam from the ears. AJ pulled back on his arm. "John, don't!"

Randy only prattled on. "I see why you love AJ so much. I mean, after all, I was hard on her, and the only way you can only appreciate something is to try it firsthand," he said, rubbing his hands together. "What the fuck are you getting at Orton?" John demanded to know. His fists were clenched and he shrugged himself loose of AJ's grip.

"You heard me Cena. I decided to get a firsthand experience just like everybody else with the one and only AJ Lee. It felt pretty one-sided if you know what I mean," Randy said, tossing a wink towards AJ, who immediately had more tears slither down her eyes. John glared at Randy, knowing exactly what he was implying, but he still didn't want to believe it. That's when he turned to AJ for confirmation.

"AJ…please tell me that what he's saying isn't true. Please," he said, in what seemed like a begging tone. AJ's orbs began to widen and in that instant, John knew exactly what happened, but AJ explained anyway. "He…he…he r-raped me John," she said in an almost inaudible silent whisper. Inside John's mind must have looked like a natural disaster, because his face looked as blank as a white sheet of paper for just the slightest moment. What came next was the rage of a man who wanted nothing but revenge, kinda like Wolverine.

"RANDY! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" John roared, and ran forward, attacking Randy and spearing him through a concrete wall in the arena. The final straw was plucked and the final string snapped; they were officially friends no more. John viciously rammed Randy's head into the locker door, stomping on him repeatedly.

"I thought we were friends Randy! You just raped AJ! What the fuck is wrong with you? She did nothing to you!" Randy finally managed to grab John's foot, and flipped him over, dropkicking the Cenation Leader into a stack of crates. "I did what I had to John," Randy sneered, wiping the blood off of his busted nose. "She needed to be put in her place."

He picked up a trash can and bashed it right into John's school, busting the hero wide open. "She's gotten enough attention. It's time that I take back what's rightfully mine. If I get what I want, and take AJ out of the picture, that opens the door for everybody else. But you wouldn't know that would you John boy?" Randy picked up a singapore cane and began to hit John repeatedly in the ribs with it, causing severe damage, and some bleeding from that area as well.

"Come on John, play ball! Tell me, was she worth it?" He hit him in his back savagely. "Tell me, is she worth it? That whole scandal? You could have been WWE Champion again back at Survivor Series! But instead, you got caught up with her in a scandal," the Viper spewed out venomously. "I tried to be a friend for you when you divorced Liz, but you blew me off for that nerd."

John groaned as he struggled to get to his feet but Randy tossed him into the catering table, knocking food everywhere. "You gave up all you were doing just to help some lovesick puppy while you blew off your real friends!" Randy was now seething at the mouth, ticked off completely.

AJ stared at the brawl not too far away, completely at a loss for what to do. With a thousand thoughts crossing her mind at a million miles a minute, there was only so much that the young Diva was capable of doing so. But that voice in her head that had always nagged her reawakened once more, and it spoke volumes to AJ.

Holding her mind in utter pain and confusion as if she were Jean Grey, she collapsed to her knees with tears streaming down her eyes. Flashbacks of Randy's attack on her raged through her mind, and the emotional intensity that resonated from her could literally be felt from everywhere within the building. Then, just like that, the pain was gone, and so were the tears.

Gone were the moans and sobs of a painful memory. They were replaced by dark, shadowed eyes. The sad face of AJ was no longer there; it was replaced by a cold, deadly gaze. To top it all off, a very familiar laugh echoed through the sounds of the hall. It was the laugh of…a crazy chick.

Through her "crazy vision", AJ spotted a left out metal column behind some of the backstage equipment. Feeling like she wasn't afraid anymore, she used all the strength she had to lift up the column, and once it was in her grasp she smiled.

Looking over to where Randy was still stomping on a fallen John Cena, she hustled over to the site of the brawl. She took a deep heavy breath, and heaved up her weapon of choice, and swung it at the back of Randy's head.

The cold metal object struck immediately with the Viper's head, sending him crashing to the floor instantly. Once that deed was done, AJ threw the bar aside, and rushed over to John's side. AJ examined John and did her best not to let her voice crack or let the tears fill up her eyes again.

"John, what did he do to you…" John rolled over onto his back throbbing in pain as AJ cradled him in her arms. "Please don't black out. You can't leave me!" she started to yell. "No No No!" she screamed even louder. The screams didn't have any effect on John, but they did echo through Randy's ears, and now he had the most malicious look on his face that could only possibly be seen on the devil himself.

"Okay AJ, I seen you've gone unstable again. Well, two can play at that game. And don't forget, I'm highly volatile, angry, and unstable myself when provoked," Randy warned. AJ's face was only washed over with the crazy look as she cocked her head at Randy with a curious look, before flashing a sadistic smile of her own that only slightly threw Randy off.

Regaining his composure, Randy cleared his throat and glared at the unstable woman. "This time I'm going to do more than rape you, I'm gonna end your pathetic miserable existence," he spat, and began to run towards AJ.

AJ didn't move a muscle, she didn't even twitch. She only cocked her head and continued to smile. Just as Randy was within a fingertip's proximity of touching AJ, a powerful kick blasted the Viper in the side of his head. Make that a Brogue Kick.

Sheamus rushed onto the scene with Kaitlyn right behind him, with the latter rushing to check on AJ and John while Sheamus stared down Orton.

"Ah don't know what th' hell you were smokin' fella, but it's high time you be put in yer place," the Irishman mouthed off angrily. "We heard everythin'," he added.

All of a sudden, a frozen look of fear washed over AJ's face as Kaitlyn put a hand on her shoulder. "AJ, are you—" Alarmed by her best friend's touch and actually forgetting that it was Kaitlyn, AJ reached out and immediately slapped her, before hopping up and taking off, zooming down the hall. She wanted a secluded spot where no one could find her.

As Sheamus pulled out his phone, getting ready to call the officials to come and arrest Randy, AJ slapping Kaitlyn was the exact distraction that the Viper needed. Using his free leg, he rose up and kicked the Great White directly in the groin, then tripped him up with a sweep kick, before slithering away to safety.

"Son of ah bitch!" Sheamus exclaimed. Kaitlyn rubbed her face, before rolling her eyes at Sheamus. "We'll worry about him later Sheamo. We have to get John to a hospital and find AJ!"

**Well, there's the chap for this weekend, so I hope you all enjoyed it! So remember to read and review, but also don't forget to watch and enjoy the spectacle that is WrestleMania! Have a good one!**

**-Ronnie**


	21. Deals And Antics

**Hey everyone, welcome back to Next Level! Did you all enjoy WrestleMania? I felt something was missing but it was still solid all-around and I was glad to see my boy John Cena finally get his redemption and take back the WWE Title for his 13****th**** World Title overall(Flair look out!). And how about that RAW crowd? They were hilarious, I swear! From the sexual chocolate chants, to humming Fandango's theme song, to chanting for MICHAEL COLE, they were awesome and helped create an amazing atmosphere! I hope you loved it as much as I did, and for those who are still waiting for a Cena heel turn, give it about 5 more years. On to Chapter 21!**

**Chapter 21: Deals And Antics**

Titus O'Neil paced back and forth in the dressing room as he watched his tag team partner Darren Young impatiently. This personal grooming thing of his really did work Titus' nerves sometimes, but Darren was his friend and tag partner, so he put up with it just for the sake of Darren.

"Man, how many times you gonna let this lady comb your hair before you finally realize that you're always gonna have a nappy head?" Titus questioned impatiently. Darren threw an arrogant look his way.

"Come on Titus, you know my motto. I stay ready so I ain't gotta get ready, ya feel me?" he asked, making Titus roll his eyes before Darren finally finished. "Let's roll," he finally said.

As the Prime Time Players opened the dressing room door, down the hall they spotted the Intercontinental champion Zack Ryder with a scowl on his face arguing with the current Money In the Bank Holder and Vickie's right hand man Dolph Ziggler. The two rivals were having an intense staredown and war of words and watching directly next to them was the Smackdown Executive Assistant Eve Torres, who had a worried look on her face.

"Look Zack, it's simple as hell. AJ's gone missing, and now is the opportunity to capitalize. Eve wants you to capitalize on this opportunity and cut a promo about her. Do it!" the Showoff shouted, but Zack shoved him out of his face.

"Look, I don't care if I'm a part of the Shield. I'm barely with them. I don't care if I'm the Intercontinental champion, that's just a perk. What you're asking me to do is trash my friend, who clearly has gone mad and needs help." Dolph shook his head and laughed at the NY native.

"You see Zack, that's why you'll never be as good as me. That's why you'll never be a World Heavyweight Champion. You wouldn't have even agreed to help us if it wasn't for Eve, and you wouldn't have even won that match without the Shield. And now when your "love of your life" asks a favor of you, you can't do it? What a sap!" the Showoff tossed his long hair back and continued to laugh.

Zack turned his dark gaze to Eve and shook his head. "Sorry Eve, I won't do it. It was hard enough dealing with the guilt when you talked me into this, but now that one of my closest friends is missing and you joined forces with Vickie, I just can't do this anymore." Zack took the black headband off of his forehead and tossed it in the face of Ziggler. "I'm out of this little power trip you call an alliance. Tell the Shield they can stick their quest for justice up their asses too." Tossing his Intercontinental title belt, he gave one last sorrowful look at Eve, before walking away. That was when Eve finally spoke up, partly due to the interference of Titus O'Neil's blowing of his whistle bursting onto the scene.

"Would you quit blowing that fucking thing? You're not a whale with a blowhole!" she shouted as the Alpha Dog. "Now, you just hold on lady," said Darren. "We're the Prime Time Players, and you can't treat your top tag team like that! We're worth—" Both were met with vicious slaps to the face by Eve.

"Nothing, you're worth nothing!" she shouted. Then the Diva turned her attention to Dolph and Zack. "All of you are pissing me off right now, and you're ruining our plan to get rid of AJ! You really think she's gone? She's bound to show up sooner or later, that's what crazy people do! But what you all need is a wake up call to remind you guys that we're all on the same page here," she said scornfully.

Dolph only scoffed at Eve's choice of words. "What could you possibly do that would get me on the same page with the Woo Woo Goofball over there?" Zack shot the Showoff a death glare.

Eve pondered for a moment, before that sly smile crossed her features as she fixated her glasses. "Simple. This Friday you two will team up on Smackdown to take on the Prime Time Players," she simply said. Dolph laughed his ass off looking at the Prime Time Players.

"That's it? Beat those goofs? That'll be a snap!" he bragged, but Eve held up a finger. "Hold on, I wasn't done. In order to insure that you guys do work together, both the Intercontinental title and the Money In the Bank briefcase will be on the line," she said, her smile even huger now, as Dolph was left flabbergasted.

"You hear that Titus? We're gonna be rich this Friday!" Darren exclaimed. Titus nodded and did his signature bark. "You know what that means D-Young! Let's do the dance! MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS!" The duo continued to dance their way down the hall, knocking over food in catering and spewing water bottles everywhere.

Dolph glared at Eve and marched towards her, but Zack grabbed his hand before the Showoff could do anything. "Don't even think about it. Just get your ass ready for Friday, we got a lot on the line," he glared, then shoved Ziggler, sending him on his way.

"Thank you," Eve said to Zack with a sincere smile, but the smile wasn't returned.

"Whatever," he simply said, and continued on his way, without even looking at Eve.

Eve sighed. The guy that she thought once cared for her was now gone and buried in darkness, yet the fact that he saved her from potentially being hurt by Dolph was enough reason to convince her that the Zack of old still existed somewhere in him. And quite frankly, the obsession with AJ was starting to cross the line, and a person like the old Zack, she realized, would definitely help the Divas champ feel a less bit insecure.

**January 4, 2013 Hidden Location**

Making sure that the coast was clear, the wounded Viper slithered into a makeshift locker room. While John had definitely bested him physically, Randy Orton had gotten the better of him in the end by outthinking John and throwing him off his game when he shouted out AJ's secret. Being John's best friend for 10 years had given him the inside track to defeat WWE's resident hero; he knew all of John's secrets and what made him tick.

As Randy closed the door, the lights automatically flickered on and three clad figures in black stood before the Viper.

"Ambrose. Rollins. Reigns," Randy simply said, to which the rebel group nodded.

"Welcome to the Shield Randy Orton. State your business," Ambrose said.

"I have a deal I would like to make with you," Randy stated.

"Speak of the request you would like to make," Rollins answered.

Randy crossed his arms and nodded gladly. "As you know, John is now hurt thanks to me for who knows how long, and AJ has gone missing. They won't be the problem though. The main problem are the other two people that know. Better known as, their best friends Sheamus and Kaitlyn."

"You know justice isn't free, right? Why would you need us to attack them for?" Reigns asked, earning him surprising looks from his comrades. He only shrugged, but wondered in his mind why he would even bother to ask.

"Because," Randy started, "these two have valuable information that could harm the very foundation of the WWE if it is ever revealed. I cannot allow this to happen."

"We understand Randy. Sheamus and Kaitlyn are part of what I call the John Cena problem, just as AJ was," Ambrose stated. Rollins added on, "We can help you solve this problem. Pay us and we will get the job done." Reigns only remained silent. Getting paid to attack yet ANOTHER Diva was starting to feel so wrong. It reminded him of…the Reunion. And how AJ… and Nikki were dangling for their very lives. He only wanted to do his job, not kill anybody. He silently shook his head in thought.

"Excellent, now if you can take them out, that'd be perfect, and I'd be able to solve the rest of the 'John Cena problem'," Randy said, rubbing his hands together. Everything was starting to come together. AJ would finally be out of the picture and he'd get the benefit of claiming the top spot in WWE since John was hurt. While he could take Sheamus out himself, he decided he would leave that to the Shield. Right now, he wanted to pay a little visit to Kaitlyn personally.

The Viper licked his lips maliciously. The Apex Predator was back on the hunt once more.

**St. Veronica Hospital, January 5, 2013 1:07am**

While the hospital doors were locked, and most of the staff and crew were out for the night, Operation Cena was now officially underway. AJ had found her way to the hospital after asking around and making a few secret deals with some of the powers-that-be, AJ was able to find her way to the hospital. Luckily, she had brought along her best friend and NXT call-up Big E Langston with her. Big E Langston definitely posed a huge muscular threat to anybody that stood in this man's way.

She looked at the door and the sign had shown that the hospital was closed to visitors by 10pm. "NO NO NO!" she screamed at the door. Big E put his arms in front of AJ. "Allow me," he said.

Big E rushed forward and broke the door down with brute strength in impressive fashion. AJ stepped into the hospital directly over the carnage, looking quite impressed as a slightly crazed smile glowered upon the Diva's face. "Impressive," she said. Big E shrugged. "They don't call me big for nothing."

AJ slightly chuckled as they walked up to the infirmary desk. Apparently, nobody was at the desk, but there was an open book left open with all the patients' names and their room names. AJ leaped over the front desk and immediately began to flip through the names.

"Cameron… Carter…there it is, Cena!" she screeched with glee. Big E only covered his ears. He couldn't believe he was agreeing to help break into the hospital just for AJ to see John Cena, but it beat her being in tears. "You sure about this?" he questioned.

AJ nodded profusely, with a glint of fire in her eyes. "Of course I'm sure E, or my nickname isn't the Devil's Favorite Diva," she smiled. "The room number is 413, on the fourth floor, so let's go," she said, pulling him to the elevator. Big E sighed, stepping inside. "He must be really lucky to have you," he said. AJ nodded. "Of course he is. I'm the best girlfriend in the world," she simply stated.

The duo arrived on the fourth floor a few minutes later and AJ immediately rushed over to the room 413, but the door was locked. Big E immediately pulled the knob off the door completely and AJ kicked down the door. Her eyes widened when she saw John in a knocked out state and sleeping soundly.

"Oh John… this is all my fault," she said sadly, shaking her head. She sat in a chair Indian style muttering the word NO repeatedly to herself, while Big E watched on in discontent. He remembered when AJ had finally told him about what happened. He was unbelievably pissed off and wanted to rip Orton apart limb from limb, but he knew that cooler heads did prevail.

As he closed his eyes to think to himself, he heard the bed creaking and looked up to see AJ now crawling onto the bed and tucking herself in next to John. Part of him couldn't help but small even the smallest of smiles at her. Nobody could find out that they were here though, and to protect AJ, and even John, he would stand guard and make sure that nothing indeed happened to the duo, less they wanted to deal with Big E Langston.

**Well, I hope you guys learned something in this chapter, because if you pay attention to AJ, you'll see what I mean. Anyways, thanks for reading guys! Read and review (: (and hum the Fandango song too if you're sad)Later!**

**I would like to thank the following people for reading, reviewing, and following the story: Feistyfearce, Vampireboy45, therealchamps, Hi14x, peppermintandvodka, Mr. BAN, BubblyShell22, MelRyderLove43, WhiteAsukalover, SparkenRose, Orchidl007711, DEADGIRL INC, Niah Rae, CenasFakeHater, DevilsLuvz, twilightlovesonamy, Nat Nat 360, Nikeema, fiftyfuckedupshadesofemma, JFACFanatic, RKO4Life, Jake, theanonymousdiva, violentviciousvixen, Brunette. Geek. Goddess, Lexi U, ispeaklove, stilettosandswitchblades, ViperPrincess87, Dianna003, CJ, XxbornxfromxaxboomboxxX, fuckyeahthisbitchisuncensored, and to all the guests who reviewed. Thank you for making this story a success! 200 reviews and counting!**

**-Ronnie**


	22. Danger Zone

**Back in the driver's seat for another chapter of Next Level! How's everyone doing? Hope you're doing well because I got some news for you all. First off, let me just say I'm pretty sure you're all aware that the story will conclude the night of or after WrestleMania, haven't decided yet. Now, no need to be sad because there will, without a shadow of a doubt, be a sequel! And no, it will not be called Next Level 2 because that just sounds dumb. So while the title is still working, you must familiarize yourself with this Diva if you haven't already. Her name is Paige and she is the cream of the crop of the Divas division over in NXT. Seriously, she is the future and the cornerstone of the Divas division of the WWE and I can't wait to see her debut. With that being said, she will be in the sequel as a major character!**

**Now enough babbling, I present to you Next Level chapter 22!**

**Chapter 22: Danger Zone**

January 6, 2013 7:26pm

Sheamus paced furiously back and forth in the locker room while Kaitlyn sat down watching him, slightly unnerved. She had no idea what thoughts were running through his head, but one thing was for sure, it wasn't about Irish pots of gold or rainbows.

"Ah just don' get it Kait. John gets picked up by paramedics, and they take'em to the hospital but nobody knows where?" Sheamus said, scratching his head, and pounding his fist against one of the lockers. "Your guess is as good as mine big guy," Kaitlyn said, shrugging. "What I want to know is where AJ ran off to," she said, biting her lip softly. Despite taking a vicious slap from her mentally unstable best friend, Kaitlyn had found it in her heart to forgive her. After all, this had happened before, and Randy's attack had only escalated her problem.

Sheamus nodded and sat down, putting an arm around her. "Aye, ah feel your pain. I'm worried about the lass too, but ah am sure that she'll turn up eventually. Police forces and WWE officials are looking all over for her," he tried to assure her.

"Thanks Sheamus. You always know what to say," she said with a small smile, planting a kiss on the Celtic Warrior's cheek. "Well, it's just like my old uncle Iroh back in Ireland used to say, if ah potato—" Sheamus was interrupted when a knock came at the door, and when it opened, there stood the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio.

"Bertie, didn't see you standin' there! Come in!" the Great White called out. Alberto walked in with a smile on his face, but once he sensed the mood in the air, his face turned serious. "I can sense a problem, is it AJ?" he asked. Kaitlyn nodded.

"Thanks for coming Alberto. We need somebody who we can trust, to help us find AJ, and John as well," she explained. "We think they may have disappeared, or gone into hiding. Vince is having an absolute fit over losing the face of the company."

Sheamus slightly chuckled to himself, imagining Vince McMahon throwing what could be considered a tantrum of legendary proportions. "Yeah fella, all those Make-A-Wish appointments that John had to attend ended up being rescheduled with other stars like meself, Kaitlyn, you, Kofi, the Miz, Mark Henry, and…Randy Orton," Sheamus managed to grudge out Randy's name.

Alberto caught on to what Sheamus was doing and raised an eyebrow. "And the snake in the grass is what caused the start all of this, si?" he asked. Kaitlyn and Sheamus both nodded their heads.

"Well that settles it then. I shall use my vast fortune to help you locate your friends, because we need them back here as soon as we can," Alberto agreed. Sheamus cracked his knuckles together.

"Thanks fella! I knew we could count on you. And in return, ah will watch your back. At least till ah win the Royal Rumble for the second straight year. Yeh are bound to have many targets on your chest now since you're the champ, so ah will be glad to help ya out champ," he said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks Sheamus, I appreciate this. I know we have had our differences in the past, but I'm glad we are now past this, and I look forward to facing you at WrestleMania," Alberto responded, shaking his hand.

Kaitlyn looked on with a big smile. Nothing like more reliable help she could count on to help find AJ and John. "Hooray for friendship!" she awkwardly shouted, earning her concerned looks from the two men before her.

Meanwhile, right outside of the locker room hallway stood the shadowy Randy Orton. "So now they want to bring the rich Mexican in on this huh? No matter, I'll deal with him at a later time, and take back my World Heavyweight Championship as a prize as well. Sheamus and Kaitlyn had better watch their backs," he said lowly. Randy was confident in himself completely now. With John and AJ gone, all he would have to do is dispose of their friends and he would be the true top superstar in the WWE.

A tap on the Viper's shoulder nearly startled him, but it only turned out to be reporter Matt Striker. "Hey Randy, were you just—" Randy delivered a thunderous RKO immediately, cutting the reporter off and slithering into the shadows before Sheamus and company could come out to see what was going on.

**In Front of Team Hell No Tour Bus**

"I told you, I'm driving after the show tonight freak!" Daniel shouted. Kane laughed.

"You're the freak goatface! I'm driving tonight!" Kane retorted. Brie had had about enough of the shouting.

"Shut the fuck up, both of you! I'm driving tonight and that's final!" Brie shouted, taking the keys out of Kane's hands and slapping both of them. "I can't believe I'm dating you Daniel, good grief!" She stormed onto the bus, throwing the keys into her purse with Daniel running after her, begging her to drive.

As Kane started to board, he stopped at the sight of Nikki Bella sitting against the side of the bus, silently crying. As much as Kane didn't want to care, or see what exactly was going on with her, his instincts told her to go check on her, unless he wanted to feel Brie's scorn again.

Seeing Kane coming out the corner of her eye, Nikki quickly tried to brush her tears away, and act as if she was putting on eyeline and makeup, but Kane was no fool.

Reaching down, he grabbed the bag, and threw it up through the window of the bus. "What the hell did you do that for?!" she yelled. Kane only chuckled like a monster could. "I should be asking what the hell is the matter with you," he sarcastically replied.

"Nothing, just…nothing," she replied with a more down, monotone voice. "I'm not stupid. Your tone suggests otherwise. Something on your mind?" he asked.

"Not something, but someone." Kane rubbed his chin thoughtfully, before a face came across his mind. "I see you're thinking about the powerhouse from the Shield," he smirked, crossing his arms.

"No I wasn't!" Nikki said, trying to mount a comeback, but to no avail. "Well, it sure as hell isn't Yoshi Tatsu, so tell me what's really going on, Nikki? I could always not give a damn and leave. My generosity is thin these days," Kane warned.

"Alright fine, I admit it. I was thinking about Roman Reigns. Happy now?" she questioned. Kane shrugged. "You should be asking yourself that question. Why can't you stop thinking about him?"

"Because he saved my life Kane. Back at the Reunion, I thought John would save me but he chose AJ over me instead…and just when I thought I was going to die, his huge arms reached out and grabbed me at the last second. He was my hero that night," she said, fondly remembering.

"I see. Sappy start. Keep going," Kane motioned. Rolling her eyes, the Bella continued. "Well, I'm conflicted because it's like he acts like a hero at times, but then he's spearing you through burning tables and I'm like what the hell, you know?" Kane shrugged. "Yeah. Seems like he can't decide if he's human or monster. Sound familiar?"

Realizing what Kane was saying, Nikki caught on instantly. "So maybe he's just confused? Maybe he needs someone to bring out the more humane side of him. I know it's there, I can sense it." Kane shrugged once more. "Then go for it," he simply said.

Smiling big, Nikki gave Kane a big hug. "Thanks Kane! You're not such a monster after all. I'm gonna go fix up a plan right now! Thanks a million!" she said once more, kissing his cheek before rushing on the bus.

Kane pondered what she said for a moment. "Maybe I'm not such a monster after all," he thought. "Wait hold on, I'm not human, I'm a monster! What the hell do I look like, Barney?" he said, rushing onto the bus.

**St. Ronnie Hospital, 6:45am**

AJ shifted as best as she could while she was in the hospital bed with John. Sighing, she pushed her dark brown hair back behind her ears and stared at the Cenation Leader. Sadly, he still hadn't awoken from the savage beatdown he received at the hands of Randy Orton and now she was extremely worried.

"All the things we could have done John. All the things we could have had in life together John. Please don't leave me. You keep me sane, and take all the pain away," she said into his ear, as she positioned herself on top of him. AJ pressed her lips against John's, and though he couldn't feel a thing, the poetry their lips made together as they coerced elicited a reaction from AJ as she felt a few tears fall. "I'm sorry John," she finally said, laying back next to him once she broke the kiss. If only she had looked at the readings on the monitor…they were starting to spike…

Big E Langston arrived back in the room minutes later, with two boxes in hand. "AJ, I brought donuts." AJ immediately sat up at the mention of one of her favorite sweet breakfast foods. "Huge variety, so go ahead and choose," Big E said, setting them in front of the petite Diva before going back and standing in front of the door. Before he went back to duty, he tossed his phone to AJ.

"You got a call from the boss," he said. AJ looked at the phone, and it started to buzz once again it was in her hands, the ringtone practically screeching "No Chance In Hell". Reluctantly answering the phone, AJ spoke.

"Hello?"

"What the hell do you mean 'hello' little girl? Do you know what kind of fucking mess you've created and put me in?"

"No," AJ simply said back to Vince.

"Well, it's created a huge ass mess! Thanks to you! You are the most sorry excuse for a Diva I have ever seen! Who the hell runs away after witnessing a fight between two superstars? It happens every week dammit!" Vince ranted on.

"Because this one was different," AJ said.

Vince blinked on the other end in surprise. "You're bullshitting me right? Cena and Orton have clashed hundreds of times, and you think that this one is different? Good God, you're a headcase!"

"So I've been told," AJ muttered sarcastically.

"I heard that AJ! It's bad enough I had to call an NXT star just to talk to you, so tell me, where the hell are you? Because I know you know where Cena is. I know you two love to get cozy, so tell me where the hell he is, damn it!" Vince was almost burning her ear through the phone.

A crazed looking smile grew upon AJ's face. "Mmm, no I don't think so," she said.

"No? Tell me, or else I'll make you manage the Prime Time Players!" Vince threatened.

AJ's smile turned into a smirk. "Ooh, so scary. A whistle and an afro pick. Nope," she said.

"Do it or else…or else I'll make you join the Kiss My Ass club," Vince growled and threatened.

AJ only laughed. "You'd like that wouldn't you? You old pervert, sorry I don't kiss ass," she said firmly.

"That's okay, because I've got you now," Vince smirked. AJ blinked, as her heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean, you've got me?"

Vince only laughed like a sadistic madman would. "I got you. I only had to keep you busy on the phone for about one minute, so these nice SWAT officials can lock in on your location. St. Ronnie's hospital eh? Sounds like a nice place. See you soon, crazy chick," Vince finally finished, and the line clicked.

As AJ hung up, a flared up glint crossed through her eyes. Grabbing the box of donuts, she hurled them out the window. Next, she grabbed some of the guest chairs and hurled them out of the window as well.

"DAMN IT!" she screamed, pulling on her hair while tears madly streamed down her face as Big E tried to comfort her.

"What is it?" Big E questioned. "Vince knows where we are damn it!" she screeched, kicking over a janitor's cart of cleaning supplies and spraying bleach into one of the patient's faces in the hall.

"We gotta go then," Big E suggested, and AJ nodded, tossing a dustpan right at the doctor's face.

"Then let's go!" AJ yelled. Picking up John's prone body as carefully as he could, the bodyguard lifted John onto his shoulders with ease. AJ quickly pulled on her Converses and the duo immediately rushed down the hallway, and into the elevator. AJ pushed every single button inside frantically and then, the elevator finally proceeded to descend.

When they reached the first floor however, the doors opened, and there stood an unwelcome sight.

"So, deserters to the WWE? Vince was right about you two. Luckily I feast upon deserters for dessert. So welcome to your end. FEED. ME. MORE!"

Ryback.

**So how was that chapter? Epic shock right? I sure hope so, because things are only going to get bigger from here. So be sure to leave a review, and tell me what you thought I appreciate them all (: and also please tell me who your favorite character in this fic is so far! I must know who my readers are enjoying the most so far. Again, thanks for reading and see you soon! (:**

**-Ronnie**


	23. The Mad Dash

**It's time for another new chapter of Next Level! Don't you all just love these quick updates? Well, anyway in the last chapter AJ and Big E ran into trouble when they found out that Vince had homed in on their location and to make matters worse, the Big Hungry Ryback is now posed to stop them and return John Cena to the chairman! Will it happen? Let's find out, here's chapter 24!**

**Chapter 23: The Mad Dash**

Ryback huffed and he puffed as he stared down his opposition in AJ Lee and Big E Langston, who had an unconscious John Cena strapped over his shoulder. He had finally found the target Vince sent him to retrieve.

"Unhand my target that you have over your shoulder there Langston," Ryback stepped forward with warning. AJ quickly glanced over to Big E, who still hadn't budged, but he opened his mouth to speak. "I don't think so Ryback."

Ryback snarled his teeth at the big bodyguard, but once again Langston did not budge one bit. "I suggest you stand down Langston, or I just might turn you into melted chocolate. You're already the ripoff of me, so I need to put an end to you right now. A Meat Hook should do just that," Ryback said, whirling his arm sideways in a windup motion.

Reluctantly, Big E dropped John down off of his shoulders and slinked his arms around the shoulders of AJ. "AJ, you need to take John and get the hell out of here as soon as possible," he ordered the petite Diva. AJ looked up to her friend with worry shivering over her brown eyes. "But what about you? I can't just leave you here to fight him! You might get hurt!"

Big E shrugged and even offered the smallest of smiles. "AJ, even you're not crazy enough to know that something like that won't happen." He gave her and John a huge heave down the hallway. "Now GO!" Once he pushed them down the hall, he closed the double doors behind them and locked it tight.

"No! Big E!" AJ shouted on the other end, banging on the doors. She grabbed the nearest fire extinguisher and tried to repeatedly break the doors open, constantly bashing it with said item, but to no avail. She sighed, knowing that she and John had to keep moving if they were going ever going to escape this place and Vince's clutches.

Back on the other side of the door, things were just getting started between Ryback and Big E Langston. "So I heard you like to feast on everything, is that right?" Big E tauntingly asked, clapping white chalk powder in his hands, mentally chanting the number 5 to himself.

"Of course. I feed on the flesh of all living mortals, no matter who they are. I've been given a task to collect John Cena for the boss, so don't try to get in my way. I have no problem making a chocolate labradoodle out of you. FEED ME MORE!" Right at the end of the statement, Ryback launched forward with the Meat Hook clothesline, but Big E ducked once he saw it coming.

Scooping up Ryback like he was a football player about to make a tackle, the bodyguard rammed the insatiable monster into the wall, really hard, stunning him. Looking around, Big E saw a couple of doctors coming his way with a patient on the stretcher.

He roared, scaring the doctors away, and then with the stretcher in his control, sent it flying towards Ryback, and it rammed him hard right in the ribs, making him buckle to his knees.

Big E walked over to the fallen superstar with a confident look on his face. "Had enough yet?" Ryback groaned, but responded with a stethoscope poke to Big E's eye, temporarily stunning the big man.

"I told you not to mess with the cycles of my hunger, because when you upset the clock, you upset all of me." Picking up a foldable chair, he bashed Big E in the head really hard, busting the big man open. Once again, winding up his arm, he delivered a devastating clothesline that knocked Big E to the floor.

He did show signs of life, trying to fight back, but the denizens of Vince's personal security held him down, which gave Ryback enough time to recover and deliver a vicious low blow right where it hurted. Big E fell where he was, and Ryback signaled the end. "FINISH IT!" he said, patting his head.

With Langston hoisted up above his shoulders, Ryback marched around the hospital before finally dropping him hard with an explosive Shell Shock.

"Let that be a lesson to you, never get in the way of me and my feast," Ryback growled. With the bodyguard now disposed of, Big Hungry turned his attention towards the blockaded double doors. With one bullrushing shoulder tackle, the doors immediately burst open. Straight down the hall just turning the corner, he spotted AJ struggling to drag John Cena.

"The end is near!" Ryback shouted, and began charging down the long hallway after his target. When AJ heard the monster's voice and saw him charging like a steamroller, she screamed.

**5 Minutes Earlier**

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stood in the lounge, chatting with one of his friends from his college days, who had now become a head doctor. The hospital lounge had offered quite the room for someone to relax and take it easy when they were on their break.

"Good job Scott, glad to see you finally made your dreams come true. When you believe in bringing it, you kick down doors and open up new opportunities for not only yourself, but those around you," Rocky said. The doctor nodded his head firmly.

"Thanks for giving me that boost that I needed though, Dwayne. I told you I wouldn't let you down, and I definitely did," he said, with Rock nodding his head in affirmation.

"Speaking of which, did I tell you abo—" the doctor glanced over the Rock's shoulder to notice a very petite, small Diva attempting to drag a rather large hulkling of a man down the hall, but struggling mightily to do so.

"Hey Dwayne," the doctor said pointing towards them. "Isn't that the crazy chick from the WWE and John Cena that she's trying to drag?" Rock turned around and looked to see the commotion that was going on. It didn't exactly help matters when said Diva began to scream very loudly.

"Excuse me Scott. The Rock says he's got to check out what all the hubbub is about." With that one, the Great One stepped into the middle of the commotion. "What in the blue hell is going on out here?! AJ?" he asked. Before he could get his question answered, a rampaging bull coming his way gleamed in the corner of his eye, and that was when it hit him.

AJ and John were being chased by Ryback. Now Rock didn't know the whole story or exactly what was going on, but he wasn't about to let a girl be hurt by the likes of this monster. Lining up in position to take Ryback's brute force right on impact, Rock managed to counter the beast's pure aggression by grabbing him with the huge range of his arm.

"Let me go, or else you're dead meat on the men—" Ryback started, but found himself startled as his body cruised in the air for a slight moment, and came back down to the hard floor with a sudden meteoric crash, courtesy of the Rock Bottom.

"It doesn't matter what's on your menu! Take a hint jabroni, and eat a mint. You eat too damn much," Rock commented, pouring a bag of peppermints onto Big Hungry's face. After handling that matter, Rock immediately rushed around the corner to find a struggling AJ Lee trying to pull John Cena down the stairs and out the front door.

"AJ, wait up!" Rock called out, jogging over to where she was. "Don't hurt me!" AJ yelped, covering her body over John's in order to hide from what she believed was a threat while shielding the one that she loved.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, hold on there, I'm not here to hurt anybody! Just confused, so tell the Rock, what in the name of Aunt Petunia is going on here?" Rock asked, crossing his arms.

"Vince and his guys are here to try and take John away from me! He's hurt, and needs to heal!" AJ's mouth started to ramble on and on, and Rock couldn't help but feel sorry for the young Diva. So he clapped his hand over her mouth. "Shhh, it's gonna be okay, I promise. But the Rock is gonna need you to calm down AJ, so that he can help you guys out," Rock said.

AJ's eyes skyrocketed. "You will? Thank you! I knew you were called the Great One for a reason!" she said, smiling a sincere smile for the first time in quite a while.

"Yes pocket rocket, now calm your ass down. First, we're gonna need to wake up Fruity Pebbles here," Rock suggested. "How are we gonna do that?" AJ questioned, making the Great One smile.

Rock took his right hand and immediately slapped John so hard that the sound could have broken the sound barrier. "Wake up you kung pao bitch!" he shouted.

Immediately, John's eyes reopened and he glanced around at his surroundings. At first, his brain took a minute to process where they were at. He was indeed in fact at a hospital, and his greatest frenemy stood before him, flashing a cocky smirk at him.

"What the hell are you looking at Johnson? I should smack that smirk off your face!" John said, making AJ slightly giggle. John looked to his right and at the sight of the distressed AJ, his eyes immediately widened. "AJ, you're alright!" he said, immediately hopping to his feet under his own power and crushing AJ with a huge hug. "Yes it's me," she said, smiling into his chest. With John now seemingly feeling a lot better, AJ felt that sense of protection resurge once again. She was glad to have her Superman back. But the fight wasn't over yet.

"As much as the Rock does enjoy a happy reunion, I believe we have bigger matters to attend to," he commented aloud. John followed the Rock's gaze and saw that Ryback, of all people was once again making his way towards them, his gaze now hungrier than ever.

"Then let's stay and fight," John suggested, but winced as he held his chest in slight pain. AJ clicked her tongue. "You're in no condition to fight! Let me stay and fight him!" AJ cracked her knuckles and popped up and down for a few moments, and let her infamous crazed smile cross her face once again. Was she serious about fighting Ryback?

"Know your role AJ. You ain't taking on that psychotic cookie monster, you're going with John. Here, take the Rock's keys," Rock said, tossing his car keys to AJ. "Take the Rock's truck. There's a destination already pre-equipped in the car system, so just let it direct you to the Rock's guest house, and you should be fine," Rock said.

"What? No way Rock, we're staying here at this hospital and fighting with you," John fired back, but Rock shook his head. "No John, you're not even fully healed or at full strength right now. Matter of fact, you're as useful as that Cookie Puss CM Pedestrian right now," Rock commented.

While AJ tried as hard as she could to stifle a laugh, Rock shook his head and pointed them out the door. "Hurry! Before it's too—" Rock was cut off by the sound of a metal door bending and breaking down. Once the grinding noise of terror stopped, the door fell over and into the hospital stepped the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry.

"Cena, Vince wants you back, so your ass is coming back either of your own free will, or by force! Don't make me hurt you now, you know that that's what I do!" Henry said, clamping his fists together. Ryback was nearing them now, and the trio were losing their own area space at this point.

"Look there's no time to argue so just go!" Rock rushed and pushed AJ and John through the spinning double doors of the hospital and pulled a lever down, effectively locking the doors so that they couldn't get in.

"Rock? No, open the doors! Open the doors up! Let me help!" John banged on the glass, as the wolves closed in on the Great One. AJ, silently hiding her tears that were streaming down her face, tugged at John's arm. "John we have to go, there's nothing we can do for him now," AJ urged. John was completely torn between his pride in helping Rock, and retreating away with AJ to a safe haven. He took a deep sigh, and followed AJ. "Alright AJ, lead the way," he muttered, and AJ's eyes couldn't help but droop at the sight of the saddened Cenation Leader. But she would make things better, she would definitely make sure that John could count on that. AJ was ready to prove to herself, to John, and to everyone else, that her feelings were definitely true and blue this time around.

Back inside, the two monsters were now closed in on the Rock, and he had nowhere to go. "Any last words before we bury yo ass, fool?" Henry asked aggressively.

Rock glanced at his shirt and smirked. He wasn't about to go down without a fight. "Yeah in fact I do. Like the shirt says, just bring it!"

**Elsewhere**

CM Punk paced back and forth, certainly satisfied with today's events for some reason. His manager and his mentor, Paul Heyman knew exactly why Punk was feeling great today, following the events of the previous night's epic war of words between himself and the Rock.

"Excellent work Paul. That tip that you threw off to Vince, letting him know that AJ was with John was genius," he said. Heyman only nodded his head with a sinister smirk on his face.

"AJ isn't doing herself any favors by being in Superman's company. I knew something was up that day that she ran away," Punk commented. Nobody had known, but the day that Orton and Cena had gotten into that brutal brawl, Punk was only one hallway over, and quite frankly, the news that Randy had raped AJ had sickened him to his core. Sure he was a jerk, but he would never let a man hit or hurt a woman.

"No worries champ, word has it the Rock was in the hospital visiting a friend as well, so it's very easy to say that he will most likely be taken out too," Heyman said. Punk nodded.

"Good, because I will defeat the Rock at Royal Rumble. I will make sure that Cena stays hurt and doesn't win the Rumble too. I'm going to do everything in my power to prevent Twice In A Lifetime, and make sure that the marquee sign features my name: CM PUNK, in big bold letters in the WrestleMania main event, which is where I belong! And it all starts with AJ…"

**Well there's chapter 23 for you! Hope it lived up to all the thrills and spectacle you'd come to expect by now. I also hope you guys enjoy Mark Henry's trash talk as much as I enjoyed writing it! Now before you go review, let me just tell you that next Tuesday, is John Cena's birthday! The Champ will be turning 36 so I will be writing a John Cena birthday oneshot, which should hopefully be up by that day! Until then, thanks for reading!**

**#HappyBirthdayChamp  
#TheChampIsHere  
#RTimeIsNow  
#CenLee**

**-Ronnie**


	24. Just Bringing It

**Hey party people, it's time for another chapter of Next Level! Now I know I said I would do a John Cena oneshot for his birthday, but I wasn't quite able to get that done, so since it's his birthday today, I'm going to make it up to you guys with a new chapter of Next Level! Sound good? Awesome. Glad to hear as well that you guys enjoyed the Rock and were cracking up laughing at his actions. I know I was too! I'm spinning NL into its own universe so if you would like to see Rocky's spinoff from this story, be sure to check out Electrify Me! Featuring as well a newly-inducted hall of fame diva in Trish! But enough talk, here's chapter 24!**

**Chapter 24: Just Bringing It**

"Alright jabronis, let's time the Rock to see just how fast he can kick your monkey asses," Rock said, quirking his eyebrow and smiling a cocky smirk towards his opposition. The Great One was trying to create enough of a diversion to allow both John Cena and AJ Lee to get away from this place. Vince was hot on their trail and there was no doubt he wanted his prized commodity back and at Raw.

"Talk is cheap Rock, you know that right?" Henry said, clapping his hands together. "But you know what ain't cheap? Hospital bills. They cost you a fortune, so I hope you got every penny saved up in yo bank. Because I'm gonna hurt you!" he bellowed.

"FEED ME ROCKY!" Ryback shouted, and the monsters charged at the Rock. Rock immediately leaped over the secretary counter nearby and bashed Henry in the skull with a laptop, slowing him down for just a moment. Rock then grabbed a hospital food tray and began to bash Henry in the head repeatedly.

As he stumbled, Rock saw Ryback rushing in like an unstoppable force while winding up his arm. Sidestepping Big Hungry, his Meat Hook clothesline knocked down Mark Henry, putting him out for the time being.

"Dinner will be served!" Ryback shouted, and ran towards Rock again. The two forces collided, trading blows back and forth, and utilizing whatever they could at their disposal. Rock got the upper hand though, stealing a nearby fire extinguisher and bashing Ryback in the gut with it, and his upper back as well.

"Just bring it jabroni! I thought you were hungry!" Rock shouted, kicking Ryback while he was down.

The Mental War Machine got back up and savagely delivered a deliberate low blow to the Great One, slowing him down in the process. "I told you that you would be feasted upon Rock. Your volts of electricity would be enough to last someone a lifetime with energy, but not me. I will destroy you Rock!" Ryback picked up the Rock and threw him through the glass window of the surgery room, with utter ruthlessness.

"Damn," Rock cursed, holding his back in severe pain. A couple of glass shards had been jabbed in his back. They only dug in deeper when he felt 400 pounds land on him with tremendous force in the form of Mark Henry.

"I break rocks like you! That's what I do!" Henry screamed, then looked at the doctors. "What the hell y'all lookin' at? Scatter, or I'll scatter your guts everywhere too!" The doctors quickly ran off, before Henry delivered on his promise.

"See Rock, you aren't on the top of the food chain anymore. Vince is starting to see that. Guys like you and Cena are old news, and it's time someone like me begins his ascent to the top of the pecking order," Ryback commented, picking up a surgery knife.

"That's right. I had to wait 15 years before I became a World Champion. 15 YEARS!" Henry reiterated. Rock began crawling across the ground, trying to pull the shards out of his back, but Ryback kicked him in the ribs. "Stay down! I don't think you can handle the feeding frenzy!" Ryback shouted.

"Maybe he can't, but I can," came a voice from behind them. Ryback turned around, only to be hit square in his face with a steel chair from the recovered Big E Langston. "You want some too Mark?"

Henry rushed towards Big E and as he swung the chair, Henry knocked it out of his grasp. "What you gonna do now punk? Ain't got shit to say, do you?! I leave fools speechless, that's what I do!" As Henry began brawling with Big E, Rock picked up the surgery knife and stuck it straight into the Silsbee native's shoulder.

"Damn it!" Henry shouted out in pure agony. Big E took advantage of the distraction, kicked Henry in the gut, and delivered the powerful Big Ending to Mark Henry in impressive fashion. Walking over to the Rock, he helped the legend up, and pulled the glass shards from out of his back.

"You alright?" he asked. The Rock nodded. "The Rock says thanks for the save, now watch this."

Rock got in position for a wakeup taunt, as Ryback was just now coming to, and regaining consciousness. As he turned around, Rock hooked his arm around Big Hungry and delivered an electrifying Rock Bottom straight through the operating table\, to which Big E nodded and clapped.

"Hey jabroni, you still hungry? Probably not, since the Rock just served your candy ass a big tall glass of shut up juice, you kung pao bitch! You don't ever.." the Rock paused and sniffed the air. "And the Rock means EVER attack the Rock, you got that? Know your role and shut your mouth! Only it's impossible for you to shut your mouth since you eat damn near everything you see. You know what, the Rock's got a new name for you jabroni, and it sure as hell ain't terminator." Big E did his best to hold a straight face and try not to laugh, but the Rock was lighting it up here.

"Your new name is Yoshi! Yeah, that's right Yoshi! You got the skull of a dumbass like the T-Rex, the stumbly ass legs of a stegosaurus, and you got that long tongue for grabbing near everything in sight you see for eating it like Yoshi! So your new name is Yoshi, you prehistoric punkass bitch! If ya smellllllllll what the Rock is cooking!"

Rock huffed and puffed, before finally calming down. He hadn't felt this much adrenaline in quite a while, and he was channeling it the way that the old Rock would.

"Alright Big E, let's get the blue hell out of here. The Rock's got another car out in the back parking lot, so let's bail," Rock suggested, and Big E nodded. Vince would not be too pleased to hear this news.

**Smackdown, January 11, 2013 Backstage**

Randy Orton was feeling great tonight. He had picked up a solid win over the United States Champion Antonio Cesaro in tag team action. Begrudgingly, he had to team up with Sheamus, but they worked together well enough to win, without ripping each other's heads off.

Everything was going the Viper's way now. A match had been made between he and John Cena for Royal Rumble, and it was going to be No Holds Barred, and also throw in the fact that both men were going to be in the Rumble match as well, and you had the makings of once vicious night for both superstars.

As he turned the corner, a vicious strike hit Randy in the back of his head and struck him down.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" Randy shouted, and when he turned around, he saw an old foe in CM Punk.

"I think the question should be, who the hell do you think you are, putting your hands on a woman the way you did," Punk glowered. Randy sneered, staring him down with equally icy eyes. How the hell did Punk know about what happened? Kaitlyn, he thought and mentally screamed. He would definitely make her pay later.

"Yeah? You got a problem with it Punk? Last I checked, you didn't give a damn about anyone but yourself," he smirked.

"Correction, I'm the only relevant thing that matters Orton. What you did was wrong! This is CM Punk's WWE and we don't allow shit like rape to happen! What the hell's the matter with you?!"

Randy shook his head. "Poor Punk, always in denial. You see what John Cena's done to you? Taking a backseat to everything that the face of the WWE does. It's put you in a spot where you're in denial about your title reign and yourself."

Punk shoved Randy into a wall and glared. "You don't know anything Randy. And you can stop trying to manipulate me with mind games, because it won't work with me." Randy's smirk only widened as Punk's face grew redder with anger.

"You still like AJ, don't you Punk? I can tell, normally someone wouldn't have reacted like that. You're just mad that you let the perfect one go. You let her go and now she's in the arms of your greatest foe, John Cena. Throw in the fact that you face the Rock in a couple of weeks at the Rumble, and you're one small, scared little champion aren't you Punk?" Randy grinned like a madman; he loved getting under people's skin.

Punk cracked his knuckles repeatedly and paced back and forth rapidly. "You don't know shit Orton. You don't know how I think, or how my mind works. You don't know anything. AJ doesn't deserve trash like Cena, but she also definitely didn't deserve what you did to her either. I should kick your ass right now for that, but I'm sure Cena will do that. I've got bigger things to attend to anyway."

"You know Punk, there is something you should know," Randy said, unwrinkling his gripped shirt Punk had grabbed.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Punk said, without looking back. "You could always use the Shield to help you get the Rock down and out before you face him at the Rumble, like you did in the past but claim you haven't used the Shield."

"I haven't used the Shield! I'm the best in the world, and I don't need anyone's help defending my title!" Punk shouted towards the Viper.

Randy smiled a cunning smile. "Really? Because I'd say Paul Heyman would think otherwise," he smiled slyly.

"Fuck you Orton. Paul believes in me to the fullest. He knows that I'm the best wrestler in the world. However, isn't that Reigns guy related to the Rock anyway?" Punk scratched his chin. Maybe he could make the family connection and use that to his advantage. It was time for the WWE Champion to make his own visit to the Shield.

"Whatever, I got other shit to do, so go cry somewhere else, you paper champion," Randy commented, and turned the corner and left. Punk glared at the spot the Viper was once in. AJ fit into his plans, but for now he was going to have to take care of the Rock. Championship business did come first for Punk, after all.

**January 12, 2014 9:30pm**

Another night, another successful WWE house show. It was business as usual for Sheamus, but for Kaitlyn, tonight was extra special. They were in her hometown of Houston, a popular WWE favorite city, and she was just all-around excited to be home, even getting the big hometown pop that came along with being from that particular place.

"I'm telling you Sheamo, it was amazing tonight," she said with pure excitement. "I could literally feel the rush! Plus I'm the new Divas champion, so it's even better now before than ever!" she said. The Houston native was on top of the world, and to that credit he smirked.

"Me hat's off to yeh lass. Ah knew that you could pull off the unthinkable and become the new Divas champion," the Irishman said with a smile, feeling Kaitlyn with even more glee.

"Thanks big guy! You're always someone who I can trust and count on," she said, leaning into his arms and Sheamus embraced her. It wasn't exactly a very familiar feeling for the Celtic Warrior. He wasn't exactly the best person to go to when it came to relationships, with the constant fear of always fucking up before it actually got good.

"You know Sheamus, if you were to win the Rumble, you could go to WrestleMania and win the World title," she said, sticking her hands into his jacket pockets where his already were. "Yeh think so?" Sheamus asked.

"I know so," Kaitlyn smiled. "That's why once you win the World Heavyweight Championship, we can become the new power couple of the WWE," she said, looking pale fierce warrior and giving him a wink.

"Oi! That's a great idea!" Sheamus agreed, albeit slightly nervous, as a sweat drop rolled down his forehead and onto Kaitlyn's nose.

"Uh Sheamus, are you sweating?" Kaitlyn asked, slightly chuckling.

"Sweating? Yeah, from all of deh humidity out here," he said, flashing a nervous grin.

"Right, because it's totally humid at 10pm at night time in Texas in the middle of January," she said, rolling her eyes humorously. "You don't have to be nervous around me you know. You're amazing just the way you are," she smiled at Sheamus.

"Thanks Kait," Sheamus said, rubbing the back of his head. Were they or weren't they? Women were so confusing to Sheamus, but he didn't want to damage what was potentially developing between he and Kaitlyn. And he needed to turn his attention to the Shield and the Royal Rumble. Business had to be handled.

**And that's the end of chapter 24! I do hope that you guys did enjoy it! Once again, I had a blast writing the Rock and everyone else in this chapter as well. Remember, Rock has a spinoff to this story entitled Electrify Me and Randy has one as well entitled Roses And Thorns! Check'em out (:**

**Also, in the next chapter we rejoin John Cena and AJ as they head over to the Rock's guest house! What will transpire between the two in the house of the Most Electrifying Man of All Entertainment? Here's a hint: it's not PG (: Thanks for reading!**

**-Ronnie**


	25. Pain and Gain

**Chapter 25**

**Yo Next Levellers, what's up? I know it's been a while since I've updated, but reason for that being is because my girlfriend Torrie(xxFeistyxx) and I are currently on a cruise! But we've actually touched down in a solid area with Wi-Fi, so I'm bringing you this epic chapter, chapter 25! So with some contributions from Feisty, here's the long-awaited chapter 25!  
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A coasting black pickup truck cruised along the silent highway as the only sound that played was the odd pop jams of the Rock inside the truck. Driving inside the truck however, was not the Rock at all. Rather, it was young Diva AJ Lee in the driver's seat with a recuperating John Cena inside in the passenger's seat. The duo had managed to escape the clutches of Vince McMahon's search party and now, thanks to the Rock, they had some time of peace to themselves once they ended up getting to the Rock's guest house.

AJ looked precariously at John, who said nothing as he peered out the side window. "How are you holding up?" AJ asked. John only shrugged. "Don't know to be honest." AJ shook her head and sighed to herself. She knew that he was wracked with guilt about not staying back and helping out Rocky. She too, felt that pang of regret, but they had to keep going forward and Rock was buying them some time.

As the navigator lead them off the highway; AJ and John raised a brow at the grand structure of this guest house. John limped along as AJ helped him up to the door—their eyes widened at the scenery in front of them. "Some house..." AJ said looking at the unique design with bull statues and of course memorabilia of the Rock. They immediately became curious scanning over various rooms; besides necessary amenities the Rock also had a weight room and a game room with various PlayStation 3s with their own television sets. Out back there was a fairly large pool and jacuzzi. AJ stopped at a door with a sign that read; "Rock's Secret." What's in there? She thought lingering as John shrugged.

"Open it and see," he suggested and AJ nodded. What came after was a shock to AJ. After the door opened, almost immediately a big banner fell down that read "Rock's Pie Quest".

"What the hell is this foolery?"AJ asked, but her eyes immediately locked onto the sight that stood before her. What AJ saw was a gigantic stack of panties and she almost immediately turned red and shook her head profusely. "What the hell? At least we know what the Rock does in his free time besides wrestle and film movies," she said laughing as John pulled her out of the room.

"Pie quest huh? Impressive. He's bringing it all right," John chuckled, as he and AJ made their way around the house.

John saw a door that said 'master bedroom' and opened it up. A grand size king bed with a giant plasma screen TV and an old school supped up musical jukebox greeted him as he entered the room.

A low whistle escaped John's lips, and it was definitely in order at this awesome sight. AJ followed John too, and she too allowed her lips to let a low whistle escape. "Wow, how does this guy buy all this stuff? It's ridiculous!" AJ exclaimed, as she ran over to the jukebox. "They have a musical jukebox in here? Awesome!" She immediately started to push random buttons as the old school device spat out music.

"Well, you have fun with that thing AJ. It's been a long day, and with everybody on my ass, I've barely had any time for rest or excitement," John said, in a contemplative type of yawn. As he struggled to get his shirt off due to his pained arm, he stumbled into the jukebox and knocked it over completely. AJ held in her laughed, but smiled as she helped him remove his shirt he then limped to the bed and plopped down; AJ laid next to him humming some 80's song as she stared at the ceiling. AJ continued her restlessness, by hopping to her feet on the large bed and bouncing on the thing. John turned over wondering what was happening; then an interesting feeling had come over him. He had gotten something he never thought he get in his time warped career—a break. He had all this space—not limited to one room and he had AJ—just the two of them. No riled up frenzies to ruin their time; no rumors to dispel from TMZ, and no so called best friends terrorizing his life. Sure, it had to be in his greatest rival's house, but if that was the way it had to be, he would take it. "AJ, I think I'm just going to come back at the Royal Rumble," he said. "Kick Randy's ass and then win the whole damn thing, you know?" The Cenation Leader cracked his knuckles as he watched AJ dance away, not giving him an answer. John only chuckled and shrugged to himself. He'd let her go ahead and dance. It had been a while since April had been herself, with what had happened to her in recent weeks, it was good to see her finally transition back to her more free-spirited nature.

AJ finally stopped dancing and glanced over at John, who was silently resting, and looking at the ceiling fan spin. Curiosity entered her mind as she went over to him and flopped down on top of him, startling the face of the WWE.

"Hey John, I wanna ask you something," she started. John shrugged and nodded. "Ask away AJ," he simply stated. AJ nodded and gulped a little. "Well I have two questions for you. The first one is, where do you think things would have gone today if you hadn't gotten a divorce in the first place from Liz? With all this scandal nonsense and everything, you know?" she asked.

"It's hard to say," he said meandering in his thoughts, things had happened so quickly—so unexpectedly, "maybe it would have happened the same either way."

"Hmmm," AJ nodded to his answer, she knew he always ready for the unexpected, she sighed at her second question; being in doubt for so long was getting to her and with everything they had been through she wondered if it was even necessary to ask him. "The other thing I wanted to ask was...what am I to you?"

"AJ...you're mine, there's no doubt about that now," he reassured. It was inevitable and sure maybe people knew about them and it caused more quarrel, but it was too late now to make it any less obvious. AJ smiled to the answer and gave a slight sigh of relief; then there was that questionable stare again.

"What's wrong AJ?" John asked. He thought AJ seemed legitimately worried about something. "I just...so many things have happened in the past few months, and I feel like it's all my fault. What if Randy really was right?" AJ questioned. John's eyes immediately fueled themselves with dark fire and anger at the mentioning of Randy's name.

Sighing, he moved over and put an arm around AJ to comfort her. "AJ, nothing that's happened so far has ever been your fault. People change over time, and show their true colors. That's just the way things are sometimes, you know? Never doubt the amazing person you are, or what you're truly destined to be," John said, finishing with a smile on his face.

This nearly brought a tear to AJ's eye as she smiled on at John, no crazy chick look apparent, at least for the time being.

"Thank you," she said, sort of sobbing in a way. "No one's ever said anything like that to me. I feel like in the WWE I've been on a long lost trip to find love or something, and I sort of lost my way, but I think I may have found it again," she said with a smile.

"Glad to hear that you did April," John replied. As he tried to get up and budge his arms, he felt them locked in place and looked up to see his hands had been cuffed to the bedpost. How the hell had that happened? He must have been distracted by the story or something because he knew it was rare to catch him off guard. "Uh AJ, why did you cuff my hands to the bedpost?" He asked curiously.

"Oh John, come on now sweetie. We're in the house of the Rock with all these great things at our disposal, and you didn't even think to have any fun?" AJ asked, slightly laughing. A dark light slightly gleamed in the corner of AJ's eyes as she dangled the key in front of him and threw it out the open window. "I'm going to show you just where my journey took me John," she said, and John knew exactly what the Crazy Chick was up to now. She bounced off the bed and landed on the floor smoothly taking off the Rock's shirt; throwing it to the side. John's eyes followed her as she did a silly twirl and pounced onto him kissing him hungrily. John felt different not being able to touch her, but this added to the excitement he had been lacking other wise. Loose wires or not; AJ was right they had no boundaries for the time being-might as well take advantage of it. AJ switched her body around so that her face was away from John tugging on his shorts as he enjoyed the view of her ass.

"Whoa easy there half-pint, you might hurt yourself trying to get those jorts off," he said with a grin as he watched her ass swing in motion, the view making him get a hard-on almost instantly.

"Says you Johnny boy, I already got them off," AJ said with a grin, turning her head in his direction and waving his jorts in the air like they were some sort of flag. "But I see that you grew a third leg. Nice to know you're enjoying this just as much as I am. The fun's just beginning though," she grinned again, and turned her attention back to his boxers.

"No need for these things either," she proclaimed, tossing the boxers off. John felt himself tense up as she examined the length of his hardness, running through both of her hands. "Hey John, what happens if I rub this thing profusely?" she grinned. The only answer was a heavy grunt from John as AJ began to rub profusely, with a slight liquid coming out from the tip. "John control yourself!" AJ exclaimed, as she grinned, climbing back to his face and giving him a passionate kiss. "Obey and you shall get what you deserve," she winked, and reached down to grab John's shirt, wrapping it around John's throat, and flipping him to the side while he was still cuffed to the bedpost, and hopping on top of him. "I've always wanted to ride Superman!" she exclaimed as John groaned, bucking at AJ's command. AJ tightened the shirt around his neck laughing sadistically. "No holds barred on my end though!" She smirked returning her hands to the hardness beneath her. She gripped him again stroking and menacing with her tongue. John groaned struggling with the cuffs around his wrist; he needed to get to her, now. She giggled raising a brow as thoughts mingled inside her; she skipped out the room and returned with a red fragrant candles. Her expression changed into some sort of innocence; as shy AJ climbed on the bed and gleamed at John. "I've always thought that candles were romantic with love making," she said lighting a few a setting them around the nightstands. John was baffled as she brought her lips to his softly taking in his kiss. She quickly sat up and tilted her head just before reaching back and grabbing the rosemary fragrant candle—she held it over his chest a the hot wax poured from it.

John could feel the liquid burning and now searing his skin as he fought ever so mightily to break out the cuffs, but to no avail. "AJ, AJ what are you doing?! Are you trying to burn me or what?!" John shouted. AJ only rolled her eyes playfully and began to lick the hot wax on John's chest, and slipping it to other parts of his chest and abdomen, all while watching John's facial reactions change on a dime. Clearly, whatever the hell AJ was doing, she was having her way with the resident hero. "AJ, knock it off!" This time John wasn't playing around. He was seriously going to have her now, and nothing was going to stop him. "Do something then John," AJ smirked, rubbing her clit with her plaid jean shorts. "You know you want some, so come get some," she taunted even more, sticking her finger up her shirts and twisting the nipple on her breast with a satisfied look on her face. "Come on, turn into Super Cena, and break out...if you can," AJ smirked. John glared at AJ's teasing as the animal instinct in the him arose—he getting out of these handcuffs was either good or bad; depending on the game AJ was playing; he could feel the cuffs loosen in the middle as he got closer to pouncing out of them. Sure the devil's favorite diva always had extra tricks, but this time John was ready to play mind twirl—he waited for her to get into the right position hovering over him again and licking at his lips. He smirked at her cocky glare just before one final forceful pull that broke the cuffs instantly. Johns hands were around AJ's waist flipping her over so fast they forgot to breathe. "Super Cena, Activated," he pushed his lips onto hers graving in a kiss of rage that she teased him with as pulled at her nipples hard kissing down to her core and burying his face between her wet shorts—he ripped them off.

AJ's eyes suddenly grew big as the sensual pleasure she was now feeling. She had unleashed the beast in John Cena and now she was about to pay for it, just like she wanted to. She only hoped she wasn't going through some of the motions, including mentally. Ripping the shorts off, John wasted no time in ripping off her panties as well and stuck his tongue straight into AJ's core, making her gasp and arch her back, making slight pleasurable moans while digging her nails into the back of John. John smirked at AJ, who was now breathing more heavily now, but still stuck her tongue out more. "That all you got John?" He shook his head. "Hell no, I'm just getting warmed up."

He shoved two fingers inside of her pumping as Aj tried holding her moans while being taken over the edge. John pulled his fingers out of her keeping her from reaching that utopia her body yearned for; he grabbed both of her legs bending them back and spanking her hard. She moaned loving the painful touch-not knowing if she was messed up-she craved more. "Yes!" She shouted laughing as John spanked her harder! Her ass was rosey and tender, John gave one final spank and threw her legs down; she didn't flinch. The fire her eyes wanted more and John didn't hesitate a single thought-he reached for the lit candle and took both of Ajs wrist, pinning them over her head. John dripped the wax from one of Ajs nipples to the other. The curdling screaming that released from her turned into a giggle. "Yes!" She bit her lower lip.

"Damn it AJ, why can't you just give in?!" John yelled, slamming the wax down and inserting his hardness straight into her with ruthless aggression. AJ's moans began to become exasperated as her tone started to sing higher. "Because I never back down and I never quit!" she taunted, even while John was thrusting heavily into her. What the fuck was wrong with this girl? Now she was imitating him apparently too! "Come on John, prove to me why you're the best in the world," she said, moaning against his neck and trying to cling to him as much as possible. John was ready to take things up just another, so looking around, he spotted a pair of electrical pulse shockers hanging on the wall plugged in. Electrical? Only the Rock would have these, John thought.

He flipped Aj over grabbing the shockers and turning the voltage on medium high. John held the things up to her ass, but she jolted away just before he touched her. "Catch me if you can!" She laughed skipping out of the room. John sprinted after her wanting to drill her until she screamed mercy. He checked each room, but was stopped by the lights going out. "Aj?" John slowly walked through the hall. John felt the floor cave in as he fell through some trapped door hitting some sort of trampoline. He looked to the side seeing Aj sitting Indian style on some sort of table. She smiled. "Look what I found!"

John groaned as he looked around at the odd room. "What kind of weird ass room is this?" he asked, walking near AJ. "Beats me!" AJ said, hopping up off the table, and looking at humongous busts and statues of the Great One himself. Unbeknownst to AJ, John had silently grabbed the shockers together, and when he pressed them against her, she yelped, leaping high in the air and landing on John with her legs wrapped around him tight. "Damn AJ, you're sweating like crazy," John commented and smirked, pressing her against the wall. Both were naked, so at this point, what did it matter how dirty they were?

Spinning back to back to back, the intertwined duo continued to spin until they fell straight into the Rock's custom made jacuzzi. Both fought for dominance under the hot water, but John's superman-like aura overpowered AJ's craziness and he began to thrust into AJ heavily until he felt the need to go to the top for air. As he tried to swim to the top, AJ grabbed his leg and pulled him back down to the bottom. As John held his injured ribs, he could see AJ swimming towards him and what he saw was a smile. A huge smile. A huge, crazy smile.

Aj pressed her lips against johns she just before kicking him in the ribs. She swam to the surface instantly laughing as she lifted herself out of the Jacuzzi. John followed behind her holding his injury, but still determined. Aj had a faint look of worry running back to him and placing her hands on his ribs. "Is it that bad?" She felt anxious. John held his ribs as he coughed up water, with AJ looking onto him. "Damn John, I didn't know. I just wanted to have some fun," she said, feeling a bit of guilt before shaking off the guilt, coldly laughing. "You're Superman! You heal from everything!" She slapped him in the ribs two more times before using all of her strength to drag him into the Rock's personal bedroom itself.

She pushed John onto the bed pouncing on top of him kissing him wildly; sliding onto his hardness and riding him. John gripped her ass motioning with her. She reached his hands wrapping them around her neck. "Squeeze! " she moaned as her mind went into shambles, "choke me out!" She demanded as all of emotions heightened. John didn't care anymore. At that moment, all traces of rational thought disappeared, and it was almost if the man had become possessed. He drilled straight to her core, rocking her harder than ever, making AJ cry out tears of joy. She had never experienced such bliss and sweet euphoria. But John wasn't done yet. Using his lower leg strength, he launched AJ forward and got from under her. With a cocky smirk reminiscent of his Thuganomics days, he took her leg and locked in his dangerous and patented STF.

Aj gritted her teeth forcing on a grin as he held her in the painful lock. "You giving up sweetie?" He laughed at her suffering; he found the extra pleasure with seeing her submit to him exhilarating he tightened the s STF. "Come on Aj, you can't fight it," he knew he had her. "Come on AJ, say it! The Champ is here!" John laughed, as AJ kept crawling, looking for something, if anything, to use and escape this painful submission. "The Champ is here..." she muttered, giving up and tapping out even more. John lightened his grip just a little bit as AJ made it to the TV remote, trying to drive it into John's forehead, but further failing. As she finally stopped crawling, John could feel a tear fall onto his hands, and he could have sworn he heard the near-silent words "please stop."

John switched out of his trance into a worry as Ajs soft sobs filled the room. He meant no real harm to her-losing himself in their lustful stance and forgetting the apparent fact that not long ago-Aj had been violated by his 'best friend' a person that she should have been able to trust. John scooped her up bringing her into his chest. "This...I shouldn't have let it happen." He caressed Ajs hair as her distorted thoughts build into despair, anguish, and regret. John felt AJ tremble and felt more tears begin to roll down her cheeks, the thoughts of Randy Orton violently touching running through her mind.

"P-Please don't hurt me John," she said, stuttering straight out of fear.

How she was shifting in and out of these different emotions John had no idea how but he was going to take care of her. Being there for her meant something, even if it didn't heal the scar that was left from the trauma Healing would take time and John was willing to wait-no matter how long it was going to take for her to get better. AJ tried filling the void by bottling up her emotions-she thought that maybe she would be okay-she spent her all of her younger years fighting through a disturbing life barely able to get a sip of water..waking up crying in the middle of the night-not knowing if she would ever be safe again. She was back in that cold small corner of turmoil and pain-she never wanted to go through it again, yet here she was shattering into nothing after what happened-hating the feeling and hating herself. John gently pulled her closer giving her that security she yearned for so long. "I'll never hurt you my sweet," he assured only wanting to protect her.

Carrying her to a soft cushion, John gently placed her down and gave her a spare change of woman's clothing to change into. Why Rock had women's clothing in the house John would never want to know, and right now he didn't care. He just wanted to take care of AJ, and make sure she was okay.

"All done John," she said, stepping out in front of him with some cut-off jean shorts and a light blue tank top. She walked right in the front of him, eyes still lowered to the ground, not daring to look the man before her in the eye. It was still too painful, and John could definitely feel the nervousness from AJ's position. He sighed, as he put on his shirt, fully dressed. "AJ, I think it's time I told you something. I've needed to say this for a long time," John started, "Aj..." he took both of her hands as she hesitantly looked up at him, "I've never been so engrossed with someone-I look at you and I know its there; an inevitable feeling that I've rarely take in." AJ parted her lips in hopes of saying something, but stopped when locking her eyes on John's. The sincerity that came from him flowed over her as he continued. "Through all of this, I never expected to fall in love with you."

AJ's eyes turned wide and into an adoringly brown color as she contemplated what John had just said, in her head, rewind, and played them again. "You love me?" she asked, her mouth gaping open in shock.

John took in her eyes, ones that were glimmering bright now and shining with hope. He nodded and spoke again.

"Yes AJ...I love you," John finally said, releasing a motherload of pressure off his shoulders in the process. AJ wrapped her arms around John embracing him as happy tears streamed from her. She'd never had such a enamored wave of energy through her veins. "I love you too," she said sighing in relief as John held her. Things may be in shambles now, but eventually through thick and thin they would work through it all. AJ knew the time she needed to break free from all drama was going to a dark road, but this defining moment proved to her that light existed at the end of the dark hole.

John pulled back just a bit to see the look on AJ's face, a complete sweet smile that was restored on her face completely, and that poster boy smile returned. Finally it seemed like things were completely restored again. Finally, he felt the missing piece in his life had been found. And FINALLY...loud horns sounded outside as a car with bright headlights pulled into the driveway and a voice record sounded throughout the house. "FINALLY, the Rock has come back home!"

John lifted AJ off of her feet carrying her out Rock's room back into the barely touched guest room. Aj yawned as he gently placed her onto the bed; he grabbed the TV remote and PS3 controllers tossing one to the brunette while turning the lights low. He put in the game Injustice just before plopping down next to his girl. As for the Rock...hopefully he wouldn't notice a thing.

The door to the Rock's Prius opened and both the Great One and Big E Langston got out of the car with cool and calm looks on their face. Things seemed like they were just fine right?

The Rock opened the door and walked inside with Big E behind him. "Lights on," Rock said and clapped, the lights flickering and coming completely on.

Rock all of a sudden found himself wishing he hadn't said that command, because with the mess that he was looking at, his sunglasses dropped and hit the floor with heavy impact. Three...Two...One...

"Good God Almighty, oh sweet baby Jesus! Holy sweet cream on an ice cream sandwich, what in the blue hell happened to my goddamn house?!" Rock yelled profusely. John heard the noise downstairs below and couldn't help but shake his head as AJ giggled uncontrollably.

"Maybe we should have cleaned up first?" AJ said snickering next to John as he shook his head. "Nope I mean guest get what they want right?" he laughed wrapping an arm around AJ. They both jumped when they heard the Rock and Big E walking closer from the echoing hall. John laughed picking up the remote and shutting the TV off; he laid back with AJ both closing their eyes playing sleep like innocent Rock kicked the door open to the guest room and banged his fist against the wall. "Wake your candy asses up and quit fake sleeping! You trashed the Rock's house with your damn sex games! The Rock sees clothes everywhere! Melted wax everywhere! Electric shock pulsars all on the ground!" The Rock grabbed a broom and a mop, tossing it at the duo. "Clean up jabronis!"

John and Aj surrendered opening their eyes. They didn't realize how much of a mess they made this mixed night. AJ held in her laugh as questions boiled up from John. "What's up with the random trapped doors and room full of panties?" Aj asked exactly what John was thinking. John and Aj surrendered opening their eyes. They didn't realise how much of a mess they made this mixed night. AJ held in her laugh as questions boiled up from John. "What's up with the random trapped doors and room full of panties?" Aj asked exactly what John was thinking. The Rock looked eerily back over his shoulder at AJ and John, thinking on whether he should answer their question or not. "Let's just say a lot goes on that you all don't know about in the Rock's house that no one knows about. Just call it...Rockpocalypse," he said and finally left.

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**And there you have it! We made the chapter extra long because, well... we got outta hand, but nonetheless, the longer the better right? Hope you enjoyed the chapter though, and be sure to leave a review and stay tuned for mo re!**  
**And thanks again Torrie my Goddess, for helping out. Love you (:**  
**-Ronnie**


	26. Nefarious

**Yo yo yo, who's back for another round of Next Level? I know I am! Since I'm the author, but still! Things are really going to pick up here as we near the Royal Rumble, and as you know, Cena will be returning at the PPV to take on Randy Orton and also take part in the Royal Rumble! However, he has to keep a low profile until then. But what about the other angles? What is everybody else up to exactly? Let's find out, so here's chapter 26!**

**Chapter 26: Nefarious**

CM Punk sighed heavily to himself as he walked out of a suspicious dark secluded room, with a note in hand. He couldn't believe he had brought himself into doing this, but he had a point to make. He needed to prove that he was the greatest WWE Champion of all time and he wasn't about to let some overrated star from Hollywood come back into the WWE on his stomping grounds, and steal his thunder. That's why he had made the deal.

He hired the Shield to attack the Rock, and needless to say, the plan worked out to perfection. Punk watched on with Heyman from the skybox, perched perfectly like a champion of the world. He couldn't help but let that dastardly smile come across his face as he watched the Great One crawl, his body quivering as he coughed up blood in the center of the ring. The Shield had done their job, and now it was time for Punk to finish it this Sunday at the Rumble.

Standing up from the seat in the skybox, Punk stretched and yawned. Things had seemed quite awkward lately without John Cena and AJ Lee around. In fact, he knew something was up and couldn't help but wonder exactly where the two were, but as of right now, that wasn't his concern. After all, AJ was still a key part of his plan, but he'd worry about her after he took care of business with the Rock.

Saying goodbye to Heyman, Punk made his way down the hall where a shadowy, stalkish figure in Randy Orton waited for him. He was tapping his foot fervently and impatiently, because quite frankly Randy Orton wasn't a patient man.

"So, how did it go?" Randy asked, a grin just anxious to appear on his face. Punk smirked back, patting the title belt on his shoulder. "It all went according to plan, of course. I will permanently put the Brahma Bull on the shelf this Sunday at the Rumble. That was smart thinking there Randal," he said.

Randy furrowed his brows at the mention of his name, but nonetheless continued. "I'd ask for your thanks, but it wouldn't mean much anyway," he smirked, making Punk snarl his upper lip at the Viper.

"Well, my work here is done. Good luck against the Rock though Punk, because you're gonna need it," Randy said smirking. Little did Punk know that beforehand, Randy had spoken with the Shield prior to Punk, and had planted a seed of doubt in at least one of the members' heads. You could call it a family connection, if you will.

With the Punk and Shield business done, Randy had other matters he needed to focus on; namely John Cena. Before he could get to John though, there was one other thing he had to take care of. Pulling out his phone, he quickly began texting away on his iPhone, determined to lay the groundwork for his plan to get revenge on a certain Diva who needed her come-uppance.

**Backstage at RAW, January 21, 2013**

Sheamus leaned against the back of a crate taking in the delicious substance of Gatorade. After all, he had earned himself this drink after making quick work of those clown jobbers, 3MB. "Those three are ah bunch of horses' arses," the Irishman commented, making his friend and high flyer Kofi Kingston laugh out loud as he grabbed a drink from the table.

"I'll say," Kofi agreed, "I don't know how those three were able to earn spots in the Rumble, but I'll take great pleasure in throwing them right over that top rope." He gave Sheamus a fist bump, before noticing the Divas champion making her way down the hallway, a huge smile on her face as she looked at her BlackBerry Storm.

Sheamus stood right up, ready to greet her with a hug, but instead, Kaitlyn walked right into the Irishman's chest, and fell flat, not realizing where she was going.

"Ouch!" the Houston native said, looking up. "Sorry Sheamus! Didn't mean to run into you like that!" Kaitlyn looked alarmed to Sheamus quite frankly.

"Whoa whoa, take it easy lass. What's the crack?" the Irishman asked, looking at her with concerned eyebrows raised. Kofi took in the sight of a worried Sheamus; something you didn't exactly see too often.

Kaitlyn felt her body rivet with excitement as she held up her iPhone to Sheamus's face. "I have a secret admirer!" she squealed with delight. Sheamus was taken aback by Kaitlyn's delight, but put on a smile on his face nonetheless. Kofi felt bad for his friend and decided to step in on his behalf.

"How do you know it's a secret admirer Kaitlyn? It could probably be a stalker for all we know," he offered his input. Kaitlyn only shook her head, refusing to believe that.

"I don't think so Kofi. We've been reciting lines and episode names from the Simpsons for the last hour and a half now!" she smiled, turning her attention back to her phone and began rapidly texting away again. "Hey Sheamus, we still down for bowling tonight? I know we've been putting it off for a while, but tonight I'm all ready to go and kick butt! What do you say?" she asked.

Sheamus only scratched the back of his head and held in some thought. As he watched Kofi motion him on to agree, the big Irishman hesitated. He wasn't so sure if tonight would be a good night to go with Kaitlyn now that there was talk of her having a secret admirer. Quite frankly to boot, the Houston native had seemed smitten with him already as well.

"Sorry Kaitie, but ah just remembered that ah have other plans," Sheamus buffed out. Kaitlyn raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Like what?" she asked. Sheamus stammered as he answered Kaitlyn's questioning gaze. "Ah, well ah heard that there was a good place ta shoot some pool at in the city, and Kofi talked meh into goin'," he finally finished, feeling every morsel of regret for lying. Just for confirmation, Kaitlyn turned to Kofi.

"Is this true Kofi?" she asked. The Wildcat didn't miss a beat as he caught right on to Sheamus' act. "Yeah of course. We made a bet and we still gotta complete it, you know what I mean?"

The Houston native nodded her head slowly and shallow. Something didn't seem right here, but she would let the issue go…for now. "Well, I hope you guys have fun! Let me know who wins the bet!" she said, pulling her phone out once more and texting rapidly again, and walked away.

"Will do lass!" Sheamus called after her, and when she was gone, wiped the sweat from his forehead as Kofi snickered. "What's so funny fella?"

"You have no game. Dude, you suck," Kofi laughed. "Shut up."

Randy looked between the small cracks of the crates from his hiding place as he smirked. Secret admirer? Sure Kaitlyn, if that's what you want to call it, Randy smirked.

**Somewhere Else Backstage**

Roman Reigns huffed a big sigh as he gathered the rest of his wrestling gear and shoved it in his bag. "Meet you guys in the car," Ambrose called to them, and left. Once the leader of the Shield was gone, Rollins quickly spun Reigns around by the shoulder and stared him down.

"Alright ya big Samoan, talk. What the hell is going on with you? You looked so lost out there tonight," Rollins said. Reigns only sighed and took a seat. "We attacked my family man. We attacked Dwayne tonight," he said.

Rollins looked confused. "Why are you so upset about it then? The Rock is an injustice to the WWE. The way he comes back easily and just gets a title shot handed to him. You think that's fair?"

"Well of course not," Reigns shot back. "But he came back for the people remember? The people who practically pay our checks to see us go out there and perform. We've been acting like assholes to everybody, even attacking people who don't deserve an ass whooping," he continued.

Rollins only facepalmed himself. "Seriously? What, you think we attacked people like Ryback for no reason? Sheamus? John Cena? The Rock? They've all committed injustices. In case you have forgotten Roman, justice isn't free." Reigns stood up in immediate frustration. "You don't think I get that?!"

Reigns slammed the locker door shut. "Then why the hell did we attack Sin Cara? He didn't do shit to anybody! Then we just attacked my family…that's my cousin man. You may not have family around here, but I do. It's in my blood Seth. You know that," Reigns said. "Maybe she was right. Maybe I am wrong for doing this. I don't know, but sooner or later I'll find out whether I'm doing the right thing or not. Tell Dean I'm taking my own ride home tonight," Reigns said. He then picked up his bag and headed out.

Seth Rollins stood there with a blank look on his face, before he blinked himself back into reality. The only thing that ran through his mind was: who in the blue hell was 'she'?

**Welp, that's the closer for chapter 26 folks! Sorry for the slight shortness, but I do hope that you did enjoy it! Updates might be coming a bit slower though, with the other writing projects that I'm going to be working on. Co-writing Most Dangerous Game with xxFeistyxx with a new chap coming in the next few days, check out the fic I'm co-writing with MelRyderLove43 called Castaway, featuring yours truly! Also got spinoffs of this to work on, Roses & Thorns, and Electrify Me! Busy busy, huh? Not to worry though, I'm still gonna be churning out as much as I can!**

**One more thing, I do have an "Open Fic Challenge" going on, so if you'd like to submit an idea, just head to my page and click on the story! All you need is a title, plot, pairing, and rating and you should be good to go! Rules are inside!**

**Until then, thanks for reading you guys! Chapter 27 coming soon!**

**-Ronnie**


	27. Dark Fates

**And on this day we shall go to the extreme…rules that is! Welcome back to Next Level readers, and let me just go ahead and say this is the final chapter before the Royal Rumble PPV, which is looking like it's going to be a three-parter. So I'll keep this short and sweet, root for our boy Cena to beat that meathead Ryback in the Last Man Standing match tonight. Other than that, enjoy the PPV and also chapter 27!**

**Chapter 27: Dark Fates**

Zack Ryder arrived at the arena very early, earlier than anyone else on the roster. Sighing to himself, he took a long look in the mirror and shook his head. It had been quite a few hectic months for the Long Island Iced Z. Not only had he turned his back on his friends, he turned heel and managed to win the Intercontinental championship, which he wore proudly around his waist. He even joined the Shield albeit temporarily, before quitting the group on his own accord.

He would have been lying if he said that Eve wasn't a part of the reason why. Quite frankly, he had began to sense a change within the Colorado native, and that was what made him stand up for her against both Ziggler and Vickie. There was no telling where he stood with Eve now though. Their pact was definitely over by now to him, and he could honestly care less about taking out AJ. Nobody had seen her in weeks, along with John Cena, so quite frankly he was glad to have one less distraction to worry about.

Tonight was the Rumble, and while he and Ziggler worked together to sustain their spots unwillingly, the point was that this guy had the chance to go and main event WrestleMania. Would it happen? No one knew, but Zack was going to make sure that he would win.

**The Rock**

The Great One pulled up in his pickup truck in Phoenix, Arizona with only two things on his mind. Those two things were definitely hunger for the WWE Championship and to exact his revenge on CM Punk for the brutal beatdown that was delivered unto him by the Shield.

As the Rock entered the arena with his shades on and all, he ran right into someone he knew very well. His cousin, Roman Reigns. The two paused, staring each other down with both electricity and intensity that could set a place ablaze.

"Well Roman, you have a lot of nerve walking right into the Rock's path on the night where he is going to take back the WWE Championship for the eighth time," Rock said glaringly.

Reigns only stared him down and let out a menacing chuckle. "You're not taking anything back tonight Dwayne. The only thing you're taking with you is a broken body back to Hollywood."

Rock lowered his dark shades as he flashed the People's Eyebrow, not believing what he was hearing. "Don't you call the Rock Dwayne, you jabroni. You, you're a disgrace to this family. Your daddy wouldn't want you doing what you're doing now," Rock warned, but Reigns interjected.

"I don't care what people want me doing! I'm trying to make my own path, not follow everybody else's! You should know a thing or two about that! Why don't you just get the hell out of here and leave for another 7 years!" the Samoan beast yelled out. Rock didn't seem fazed in the least bit.

"You should know that there is always a reason for everything that I do Roman," Rock said. "Besides, I didn't come back for your candy ass. The Rock came back for the people! The Rock came back to win the WWE Championship! The Rock came back to face John Cena at WrestleMania 29 one more time!"

Anger flashed through Roman's eyes at the statements he heard his cousin making right in front of him. "You want to give the fans the same damn WrestleMania event as last year? That's a fucking injustice," Reigns spat. "You should be ashamed to do such a thing."

"So let the Rock get this straight, giving the people what they want is an injustice? If that's the case, then the Rock's entire career may as well be an injustice then! This company is run by the people, for the people jabroni, and you shouldn't let some personal 'injustice vendetta' get in the way of what could be a great career for you! Listen to the Rock! I'm your fucking cousin for crying out loud!" the Rock called out.

"Besides, the Rock knows that somebody else has been getting through to you too. Nikki Bella right?" Rock asked. Reigns only stared at his cousin without saying a word. "Yeah, just like the Rock thought. His eyes weren't deceiving him when he saw you in the parking lot with her that night. Nice girl by the way," he added.

"What the hell do you know about that?" Reigns fired back.

"Everything, so shut up bitch!" Rock said, a grin growing on his face. Roman Reigns had had enough of his cousin belittling him so he roared to the sky.

Rushing in quickly, Roman attempted to deliver a spear, but the Rock was more than ready. He leaped over his head and spun around quickly to deliver a backbreaking Rock Bottom.

"Take your injustice, your insecurities, your monstrosity, and your SWAT team gear, stir it up with Ambrose and Rollins, mix it all up into a ball, turn that sumbitch sideways and stick it straight up your candy ass! If you smell what the Rock is cooking!" Staring down his cousin with intensity, the Rock rocked his shoulders and swayed his arms back and forth. Oh yeah, he was more than ready to kick CM Punk's ass tonight.

**Randy Orton**

Randy Orton paced back and forth in his own private locker room, with his cell phone in hand, texting away rapidly. He was definitely enjoying this. This was going to teach her to open her big mouth and get involved in his personal business. As the Viper hit the send button on his phone, the door to his room swung open and in walked educated reporter Matt Striker.

"Hey Randy, just wondering if we could get some words from you on your match tonight with John Cena? We've been told that it's been name a No Holds Barred match," Striker said.

Randy only smirked and shrugged. "So what? It doesn't matter what match type it is. Tonight, the WWE Universe is going to witness the destruction of their beloved hero John Cena, and I'm going to relish in every moment of it," he said, his grin starting to turn a bit maniacal.

Matt Striker felt a lump in his throat and an uneasy feeling about the air, but went on. "Sources are saying that John Cena is indeed in the building tonight, but not only that, it appears AJ Lee will be making a return tonight as well. With two people that you savagely attacked looking to get revenge on you, do you feel nervous?"

Randy slapped Striker in the face. "Does it look I'm afraid? Word may have gotten out that it was indeed me that did those attacks, but you can't say they didn't have it coming. Tonight, I put an end to the most overrated, overpushed Superstar and Diva in WWE History."

Matt rubbed his face, fearful now. "U-uh-uh thank you Randy, that'll be all." As the ace reporter turned to leave, the Viper immediately grabbed him by his collar and tossed him into the locker room wall. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a Singapore cane and began to savagely assault Striker with shot after shot.

"I give up I give up!" Striker cried out, but Randy ignored his pleas. Instead, he dragged Striker over to the locker room shower, and put his face straight to the shower head. Randy turned on the hot water to full blast, and Striker began to immediately feel the burn.

"Owww! AHHHH!" he cried out, Randy grinning like a maniac. As he pounded the ground, he waited for the reporter to get up. Once he did, with his tongue hanging out and all, Randy delivered a brutal RKO that busted him open.

Not satisfied just yet, Randy propped Striker's head up in a kicking position. Backing up to get some distance, Randy rushed forward and delivered a knockout Punt Kick. Was Randy done now? The Viper nodded to himself as he dragged Striker to the outside of the locker room, just in time for Sheamus to walk around the corner with Kaitlyn, both cringing at the sight of a bloody and beaten Matt Striker.

"Oi! Orton, what th' hell did yeh do to tha' guy?!" Sheamus yelled. Randy only cocked his head and shrugged. "I only gave him an interview," he smiled coldly.

"You stupid son of a bitch, you gravely injured him! You didn't give two shits about it either, did you?!" Kaitlyn said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Correction, I didn't give three shits about it," Randy corrected her. Kaitlyn walked over and delivered a vicious slap to the Viper. Randy's immediate recoil made her bounce back in fear and hide behind Sheamus.

"You're gonna wish you hadn't done that sweetheart," Randy said, rubbing his face. Sheamus stared down the Viper. "Yeh touch Kaitie and I'll kill yah snake," Sheamus threatened with a low growl.

Randy grinned, taking a slight interest in Kaitlyn's slight cleavage showing as she lowered herself to help Striker, but Sheamus cut off the view immediately.

"Ah am serious Orton. You come near us, specifically her, and ah'll shed your skin ah new color," Sheamus threatened.

Randy only shrugged and walked off the other way. Oh don't worry paste face your time is coming soon, Randy said. First he would have to handle John Cena, and if he needed to, AJ Lee once again. He pulled out his phone, beginning to text Kaitlyn with a grin on his face.

**AJ Lee**

AJ Lee smiled to herself. She hadn't experienced such comfortable sleep in ages, and she hated that she would have to wake up soon, just to make her return to the WWE. That was the life of a wrestler though, she thought sighing. "I can't wait for tonight John! You're gonna be kicking some ass tonight!" she said, not facing him.

"You know that's right sweetheart," the voice that came from the person laying next to the Geek Goddess made her shriek loudly.

"RANDY?!" she shrieked. "Alive and well," Randy grinned. "Now come here and give me a kiss!" he said, seizing her wrists and pinning her down.

"NO! Don't touch me! You won't rape me again! John where are you? Help!" AJ cried out. Randy listened to her cries for help with the utmost grin. "He's not here AJ! No one is!" As Randy pressed down even more, AJ put all her strength into her lower legs and delivered a vicious knee to the family jewels of the Viper.

"Get off me!" AJ said, as Randy rolled over in pain. AJ immediately sprung up and leaped out of the bed, only to…keep falling.

"What the hell is going on?!" she screamed out as she continued to freefall. Finally, she hit a floorboard super hard and the impact shook every bone in her body. As AJ stood up to collect herself, the evil witch-like cackling of one of her oldest foes caught her attention.

"Vickie! What the hell are you doing here?! This isn't your house!" AJ shrieked, but Vickie only continued to laugh, motioning for someone to come out of the dark; out stepped Daniel Bryan.

"Daniel?" AJ said, as she gasped. Daniel nodded. "That's right AJ, it's me, your very first love."

AJ cocked her head. "Then what the hell are you doing with that ugly bitch?" AJ asked, pointing at Vickie who stopped laughing and made an evil glare.

"I'm joining her petition to get you taken out of the WWE. You are clearly unstable and I don't know what I ever saw in you," he said, voice turning cold.

"That's not true!" AJ countered. "You emotionally abused me! Told me I couldn't do anything right! Embarrassed me in front of the entire viewing world!"

"You did the same thing to me, leaving me at that damn altar!" Daniel fired, with this time AJ smiling back coldly. "Payback's a bitch, you fucking goat."

Vickie whispered something in Daniel's ear, and the tag team champion stepped aside, and allowed another smirking figure to come out. This time, it was the WWE Champion CM Punk.

"Well well, if it isn't my favorite crazy chick," Punk said, smirking. "Hi April," he mocked.

"What the hell are you doing here Punk," the Geek Goddess said coldly.

"I just wanted to check in on my favorite crazy chick. Is that too much to ask for? Is John treating you well?" he grinned. "Remember when I was the one who put that pep in your step?"

"Remember when I pushed you and goat boy over there through a table? Yeah, great times," AJ responded with a grin that ticked Punk off.

"Now end this shit! All of you leave, now! NOW!" AJ screamed repeatedly, seemingly shattering Punk, Bryan, and Vickie to bits and pieces of sharded glass.

"What the fuck?" AJ muttered, scratching her head. She didn't have much time to contemplate, as the floor beneath her gave out, and she was sent tumbling into more darkness.

"AHHHH!" she screamed, flailing at seemingly nothing. Then, just like that, she stopped flying and was seemingly floating in midair.

"What the hell is going on?! What's wrong with me?!" AJ shrieked. A bolt of lightning was immediately cast and narrowly missed AJ as it hit a wall, and flames began to arise from underneath her.

"AJ," an eerie voice boomed. AJ looked around rapidly and crazily. "Who the hell is there?" she called out.

"AJ, you are a very special being," the voice said. "Your heart is full of darkness, and bad luck presides over your presence."

"Who the fuck do you think you are? You don't know anything about me!" AJ screamed.

"On the contrary, I do. Darkness consumes you AJ. You are like a black widow. You prey upon everyone until there isn't anything left to take. " The voice was hitting every point.

AJ curled into a ball. Was she really envisioning this? She couldn't be, she wasn't that far gone. "Just as you prey upon your enemies, I prey upon worthy souls."

"What the hell are you, a mind freak?" AJ asked, watching the flames dance back and forth right underneath her.

"Ha, no I am far from that. I am the lord of darkness, the burier of grave souls, the soul conquerer, and I have brought you here for one reason and one reason only," the voice said.

"Well, I don't care what it is—" the flames rushed up and singed the chucks AJ was wearing, and tears began to roll down her face in utter fear. "N-name your reason," she stumbled.

"There is only one worthy soul in the WWE left taking in the WWE. A noble, shining worthy soul that I've yet to take on," the voice said.

AJ gasped. He couldn't be talking about who she thought he was talking about, could he?

"When I face and conquer his soul, you will be free from your fate as a black widow, and I will have conquered the final soul needed to bring my career to a close."

"You leave John Cena out of this! Leave my boyfriend alone!" AJ yelled.

"Pfft, small girl, you think you can stop me? I am darkness eternal, and on April 6, 2014 at WrestleMania 30, John Cena will REST. IN—"

"SHUT UP SHUT UP JUST SHUT UP!" AJ shrieked like a mad bat, tears rolling down her face and crying as her screams shattered everything in sight.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP!" AJ screamed, tossing her body back and forth, until she felt a strong pair of arms grab her and wrap around her tightly.

"April! April calm down! It's okay, I'm hereI" John Cena said, trying to comfort her as much as possible.

Sobs echoed through John's shirt as he held her tightly. Things were really starting to get to AJ now, and John didn't know exactly how they were getting to her. He was no psychologist, but he was going to find out what kept triggering these nightmares.

"John, I had a horrible dream. There's a dark force coming for you!" AJ cried.

"Dark force?" he asked, confused.

"Yes! Your soul…it's days are numbered," AJ said solemnly.

**Crazy huh? I can't believe I was able to execute something like this, so I'm very proud of it. Well, that's it folks. Read and review, and don't forget to enjoy Extreme Rules tonight! Royal Rumble chaps coming soon!**

**#ExtremeRules  
#RTimeIsNow  
#TheChampIsHere**


	28. A Champion Again

**Hey everybody, welcome back to Next Level! This chapter might be kind of brief, but with the story winding down soon, you'll see why! Angles will be closing soon, and as I build up the main ones, we'll see what fate has in store for John Cena and AJ Lee. They've come a long way from a scandal huh? Well let's see what happens next. Here's chapter 28!**

**Chapter 28: A Champion Again**

The Rock breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the backstage area, the WWE Championship firmly in his grasp. Finally, he had done it. He had become the WWE Champion for the eighth time in his career and the tenth world title overall. It was quite the achievement after all, and despite all he had endured in that match, from Heyman's cheating antics, to being put through an announcer's table by the Shield, he had survived it all. The title was definitely reason to celebrate.

As the Great One turned the corner, he looked to see John Cena beating the holy hell out of Randy Orton. Rather than call for help or security, Rock simply pulled up a foldable chair and sat down watching the free show. Everytime the Viper tried to crawl away, Rock would sock him in the jaw and send him sprawling back towards the Royal Rumble winner Cena who would knock him down with a vicious clothesline.

Cena had been kicking Randy's ass all over the building that evening. He had speared him through a loose concrete wall, literally thrown him in the bay, only to jump in and swim after him. After John would get him out of the water, Randy would begin to choke from all the water in his system and John would take the pleasure of slapping the STF on his former buddy just to choke it all out of him.

AJ, who had by now, suffered the most torment from Randy appeared, with a sinister look on her face as she mocked Randy's stalking pose while he was down on the ground with John's foot on the back of his head. "How does it feel to be the hunted Randy?" she asked, with a grin.

"Fuck you shrimp," the Viper sneered, as John pushed down on his head harder. "Shut up, she's talking," he threatened. "Don't make me choke you out," he warned.

As the Rock watched on with a concerned look on his face, he watched AJ slap the mess out of Randy repeatedly, making his as red as a tomato patch and his nose bleed profusely. John lifted Randy one more time, and delivered an AA to the Viper down a very long flight of stairs.

As AJ watched the Viper tumble down each step to his doom until he reached the bottom, she dropped to her knees, completely satisfied with what she had seen. Did this mean that her torment was possibly finally over? Only time would tell.

The Rock put his chair away and approached both John and AJ. "So, let me ask, was all of that really necessary?" Rock asked John.

"What the hell do you think Rocky? Of course it was! We put that damn snake out of his misery! Now he won't be bothering anybody else ever again," he said, his blue eyes turning a deadly steel blue color. AJ walked over to where John was, pulling his face down to her level for a long kiss that made John pull AJ straight into his grasp. As his left hand ran down the small of her back to grab her ass, the Rock could only shake his head.

"if you two are gonna continue to eat each other's faces off, the Rock can reserve a room for your candy asses at the Smackdown Hotel," he suggested. "It's right down the road between Know Your Role Avenue and Jabroni Drive—"

"Don't get mad Rock, you're just mad because you can't have this pie," AJ teased, her eyes turning a darker shade under them. Their kiss intensified, as AJ lifted John's shirt over his head, and pressed him hard against the wall, as the Cenation Leader yanked hard on her hair.

"Why in the bluest of blue hells would the Rock be mad? The Rock could get any type of pie he wanted!" he fired, making AJ stop mid-kiss. The Geek Goddess walked over to the newly crowned champion, squaring him up. This was the man who had now put CM Punk on the shelf apparently. After squaring him up, she started to skip around him fluidly in a circle as the Brahma Bull looked on, confused as blue hell.

Finally, AJ stopped in front of him. Slapping the Great One in the rear, she then proceeded to hop right onto him, legs locked tight around his waist and arms around his neck. John grinned, sensing something great was about to happen. Otherwise, he would have clocked the Rock a new one by now.

AJ wouldn't lie, she could definitely feel the electricity in the air that the Rock was emitting, that was a fact. However, she was with John now, but that wouldn't stop her from doing just a little bit of trolling. AJ leaned in to the Rock's face, lips just inches apart from his, she grinned and whispered to him.

"You can have any pie you want…except this one Rocky. Jersey isn't offering, so Rocky can't buy," she winked at him and began to get down. Raising his infamous eyebrow, the Rock furrowed his eyes at her and John.

"The Rock can't tell what's happened to you two. It's like vengeance has corrupted you, and the Great One doesn't like it one bit."

John made a mock crying noise. "You gonna cry about it Rock? You'll be doing plenty of it in two months when I take that WWE Title back at WrestleMania," he said cockily.

The Rock grinned at John's confidence. "Oh yeah, sure you will Cena. Once the Rock whoops your candy ass, and gets a little Jersey pie from your girl here on the side," he said, raising his eyebrow repeatedly at AJ, "you can go running back to your momma just like your candy ass did last year."

John started to step towards the Rock, but AJ placed a palm on his chest to calm him down. Where had the shy and timid AJ gone? It was like the dreams and visions she had lately had been consuming her, and now she was like a woman possessed.

"You mad Rocky? I think you are. You seem to be afraid of the fact that John's gonna kick your ass at WrestleMania and take your title. By the way, tell me again, why did you come back again?" AJ asked.

"To be the—" Rock started, but AJ immediately cut and swerved him off.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHY YOU CAME BACK!" she yelled, glaring at him. "Doesn't feel so good when it's done to you now does it?"

"You've got some nerve AJ. With your cut-off Fruity Pebble shirt, and your high-riding jean shorts. You're a woman trapped in some pre-teen's body. If the Rock saw a lowrider come by and pick you up, the Rock says he would have to dial 911 emergency!"

"Why?" AJ asked, still glaring.

"To report to the police that the Rock just witnessed illegal child prostitution!" Rock said laughing, but AJ immediately delivered the five finger stinger, a loud slap echoing off of the Rock's face throughout the halls. "Fuck you!" she said, taking John by the hand and leading him away from the Rock. What was once starting to turn into a pretty solid of trio of friends was now turning into a complete combustion of flames.

The Rock grinned to himself though. He had to admit, AJ had definitely gotten one over on him, but he definitely topped her. The Rock absolutely refused to be upstaged by anybody, no less than by a Diva. As the Brahma Bull picked up his championship, and began to walk in the other direction, a bulldozing force came rushing through and automatically crushed the Rock through the catering table with a vicious spear.

That spear had come from his cousin Roman Reigns, and as the Rock held his ribs in pain, he couldn't help but be disappointed. He thought he had gotten through to Reigns, but apparently the effort was in complete vain. As Reigns stared down his cousin, two more figures emerged from the dark in the forms of Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

Seth clicked his tongue in discontent while Ambrose just laughed. "You thought we were done with you Rocky? We're just getting started," he said with a sick grin.

"Surely," Rollins added. "It is an absolute disgraceful injustice to see a Hollywood celebrity carry around the richest prize in this company, and we're gonna put an end to that. At Elimination Chamber, we challenge you to a 6 Man Tag Team match in the confines of the Elimination Chamber!" he said.

Ambrose continued. "Your tag team partners, and by the way we've already gotten clearance on this, are going to be none other than your WrestleMania opponent John Cena and…his girlfriend AJ Lee! Now does that sound like a fun time or what?" he said, with a sick grin. "I suggest you go get ready and buddy up with your friends," he said.

"Anything you'd like to add to the convo Reigns?" Rollins asked.

Reigns stared down at his cousin, with a smug glare. This is where he truly belonged. Fuck the Rock. Fuck the big egos around here. Fuck Nikki Bella.

"Yeah. BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD!" he roared into the Rock's face as they walked away.

**Well there you have it! Let me know what you guys thought! Read, review, and stay tuned. Chapter 29 coming soon!**

**-Ronnie**


	29. Breaking the Shield

**Hola everybody, it's time for another new chapter of Next Level, the story with so many angles it makes math jealous! But seriously, business is about to heat up as we near the Elimination Chamber! We already have the champ Rocky teaming up with John Cena and AJ LEE against the Shield, inside the Chamber! What could possibly go wrong? Well let's find out! Here's chapter 29!**

**Chapter 29: Breaking the Shield**

Roman Reigns sighed as he checked in at the front desk inside the Holiday Inn hotel that he was about to enter. Tonight had been a truly confusing night for him to say the least. He thought those words from his cousin were going to inspire him to say the least, but instead, they had the opposite effect. He went completely native and unleashed a savage beating on his cousin. Like an old cliché used to say, never turn your back on family, and that's exactly what he did.

"So damn stupid!" he yelled at himself as he threw down his bag once he got inside his room. Immediately heading to the bathroom, the Samoan Beast pulled off some of his black SWAT team-like apparel and stared at himself in the mirror. He was completely disgusted with what he saw, but the worst part was, he didn't even know what the Shield stood for anymore. Where was the justice? Who was truly the injustice?

As he placed a hot towel over his head, a knock came at the door and Roman growled. When the knocks kept coming repeatedly, he stormed over to the door and nearly pulled off its hinges, but the person he saw made him completely freeze in his tracks.

It was Nikki Bella. "Hey Roman, mind if I come in?" she asked. Roman lowly cleared his throat as he took in the gorgeous body of the Bella beauty. "Yeah sure," he said.

Nikki was wearing a midnight blue thigh length dress with two straps of course, but Roman couldn't understand why on earth she would come here of all places.

"I take it you had fun tonight," he said. "You hit up a club or something?"

Nikki nodded her head. "Yeah, Alicia, Layla and I had a grandiose time," she said with a wink as she took a seat on the Shield member's bed. "So what's up with you? I heard you attacked your cousin…"

"Let's not talk about that," Roman said as he tossed the towel aside and took a seat next to Nikki, flipping on the TV to Animal Planet of all channels. It was an apparent documentary on what happens when an animal unleashes its beastly side.

"Roman, why won't you talk about it? Clearly the Shield has got your head fucked up or something," she said laughing and knocking on his head a little bit. She seemed a little tipsy tonight, but not completely drunk.

"You don't know anything about the Shield. You're just another Diva with breast implants. What the hell could you possibly know about me?" Roman grimaced, looking hard at the TV.

Taking the insult in stride, Nikki sat up and worked her way into Roman's lap somehow, now straddling him. "You have a wild side, I know that much. Plus, your friend who is rubbing against my inner thighs here tends to agree with me," she said, staring at him like she was in a daze.

"I'm telling you—" he was cut off when the tipsy Nikki suddenly crushed her lips to his, and begin to comb her hands through his vast long hair. She had to admit, it was definitely beautiful to say the least, in a Troy Polamalu sort of way.

Roman wasn't one to shy away from the moment either; instead he intensified it. Gripping her legs, he wrapped them strongly around his waist, then picked her up, and dropped heavily on the bed. Turning into complete beast mode, he pulled the two straps off and down to the side of her arms, and when he realized she wasn't wearing anything underneath, that just made him even hungrier.

"If you smellllll what the Rock is cookin'!" the tipsy brunette said in more of a slur. Who the hell did she think he was? Not one to get taken aback by a comment like that, he started to pull more of her dress down, but was stopped once again, when there came a knock on the door.

"Someone's knocking on my door, must be some hard wood!" Nikki said, smirking and hiccupping. "Don't be a monster or a stranger!"

"Wait here," Roman whispered in a low growl as he got up and made his way toward the door. Without even bothering to look through the peephole, he swung the door wide open and what a sight it was.

The 7 foot monster from hell, Kane.

"Did somebody order a monster? Because here I am," Kane sarcastically retorted, before uppercutting the Shield member straight in the throat, and began unloading a huge beatdown on the savage. Kane dragged Roman to the bathroom, smashing his head through the mirror, and sticking his head in the overflowing bathtub for an extended period of time.

"You like that? This girl risks her neck for you, and this is how you repay her? Listen to what she says to you!" Kane yelled, as the now bleeding Reigns just spit into Kane's face. Glaring, Kane proceeded to use his thick gloved hand and gag it down Roman's windpipe, until he finally passed out.

Kane looked to his left, and saw Nikki still on the bed, in a tipsy state of mind, falling out of bed. Cocking his head, Kane was definitely left in a curious state of mind. He had definitely seen plenty of women in this state before, but there was something different about Nikki this time.

"Come on Bella bust, it's time to go," Kane said, scooping her up and carrying her out of the room carefully. "Where we going?" Nikki asked, "to a barbeque?"

"Sure," Kane said rolling his eyes. Nikki giggled. "Of course we are! You light the best fires at barbeques Kane! No wonder you're always so hot and bothered in your pants when you're around me!" she said, before finally falling asleep.

Kane cursed to himself. If only she were wrong. And if only anyone could see the Rock smiling as he walked into his own room. His plan was working like a charm.

**iHop, Midnight Pancakes**

Sheamus and Kaitlyn both took their seats as they prepared for their annual once-a-month pancake chowdown. The two seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with pancakes for some reason, so they agreed to do this chowdown once a month whenever they could. Since they had started, the overall score had been 7 to 4 in favor of Sheamus, but the Houston native was looking to add a win to her column.

"Alright big guy, pancakes and beers your way of celebrating a good time tonight?" she teased, making the Irish native grin.

"Aye Kaitie, I just qualified for the Elimination Chamber match and now I have another shot at going to WrestleMania for the World Heavyweight Championship," he grinned, nodding confidently back.

"If you say so, big guy. At least everything's going back to normal. Randy seems to be hurt and gone now, and John and AJ are finally back around!" Kaitlyn said excitedly.

"I'd keep an eye on them though," Sheamus warned. "Something doesn't seem right with them in the head lately," he said. Kaitlyn only shrugged. "They went through some traumatic experiences. I wouldn't be surprised if their souls got captured and corrupted," she laughed.

Sheamus nodded and stared at the Houston native. There were so many captivating things about her that he loved and enjoyed, but there was always something there that was blocking him from asking her out. But what could it be?

He didn't have time to ponder as the waitress brought over the duo's pancake and beer orders, and after staring at each other for a slight second, both begin to chow down. The mess they were making was so vehemently massive, that half of the customers had to clear out of the iHop just to duck for cover. It was more deadly than 50,000 Brogue Kicks, that was for sure.

Stuffing the last pancake on the plate into his mouth, Sheamus rolled over in his seat and let out one loud, long belch, declaring himself the winner of the contest. "Ah would like to claim this victory for me native home of Ireland," he said with a grin, as he climbed back to his feet. "Need some help lass?"

Grabbing his hand, Kaitlyn slowly stumbled to her feet, holding her head in pure shock and dizziness. "Remind me why we do this again?" she asked.

"Because it's fun as hell!" Sheamus exclaimed in response, making Kaitlyn laugh as she fell forward into the Great White's arms. Drunk or not, she didn't care what she was doing, so she tilted his head toward hers, and let herself give in to a lingering kiss. Sheamus could feel the burning sensation from her lips make their way onto hers as he kissed back, tasting the pure mixture of booze, pancake, and syrup all in one solid fixture.

Too caught up in the kiss, Sheamus and Kaitlyn didn't realize the looming presence of both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose enter the restaurant and attack the Celtic Warrior.

"So you like getting women drunk huh?" Ambrose asked, clicking his tongue in false disappointment. "Injustice…" he murmured as Seth glared at the downed Sheamus, and eyes softened at the look of Kaitlyn holding her stomach in pain. It was definitely a sight that he did not want to see, and for some odd weird reason, Seth was beginning to feel what Roman was once feeling before about Nikki Bella for Kaitlyn.

As Ambrose took pleasure in delivering several painful shots to the gut of Sheamus, Seth began to make his way over to the Houston native. That is, until a swift enzugiri kick knocked him flat on his face, courtesy of Alberto Del Rio.

"Leave mi amigos," Alberto threatened, towards Ambrose and he started to step towards him. Ambrose, quickly deciding this was not a fight to pick, dragged Seth out of the restaurant and were quickly on their way. After they were gone, Alberto made his way back over to the fallen duo and helped prop them up in a chair.

"Glad to see you're okay Sheamus," he said in his thickly accented Spanish tone, grabbing a beer and drinking some.

"You tellin' me fella, I had a dream that ah kissed Kaitlyn," he said, rubbing his head and holding his gut. Alberto smirked at the Great White.

"Amigo that was not a dream, that was real. I saw everything," he said, pointing at Kaitlyn who had fallen asleep completely, head on table and everything.

"I'll tell you everything that happened exactly, and afterwards, we can figure out how to find those estupido hounds of justice and break them in half, si?"

**Holiday Inn**

AJ skipped down the hall in her red and black chucks with John trailing closely behind, very closely indeed. The duo had just seen the mess that was made in Roman's room and they wanted some answers from someone who could provide them.

"What in the blue hell do you two jabronis want?" The Rock said, answering the door. "After all the Rock has done for you two, you have the nerve to walk up to the door of the People's Champ?"

"Whoa easy Columbo, save the Hollywood schtick for someone who cares. We just came to talk strategy, that's all. AJ's fine with being in the Chamber, she just wanted to meet," John said in an angry tone.

The WWE Champion rolled his shoulders, then smirked. It was time for a little payback of his own. Reaching into his pocket, he found a dangerous can of illegal body spray from Japan that he got imported to him. Spraying it in the air, John and AJ began to cough.

Taking advantage, Rock delivered a Rock Bottom to John, laying him out on the floor. AJ had recovered much quicker from the spray than he had expected, but his plan was still going along well. Turning AJ over, he smirked.

"I bet you think the Rock is going to kiss you right now don't you?" he asked, and AJ smirked.

"Sure," she said, but the Great One quickly pulled her back up and gave her a swift boot to the ass, making her tumble right on top of a laid out Cena.

"Boots to asses bitch! The Rock ain't one of your boyfriends, and come Sunday, you better stay out of the Rock's way, or the Shield ain't gonna be the only three casualties of injustice jack! If ya smell what the Rock is cooking!" Rock said thunderously, and then slammed the door shut.

Would these three ever get on the same page in time for Sunday?

**Well there's chapter 29! Hope you liked it, and stay tuned for chapter 30! The return of Randy! See you soon! -Ronnie**


	30. Elimination Chamber, Part 1(RKO)

**Hey everybody, welcome back to another chapter of the top-rated CenLee fic on this site, Next Level! Of course, it wouldn't be possible without all of you loyal readers coming back to read whatever crazy stuff my mind is spewing out onto this computer. Now, there are about 3-5 chapters left in this story, and as I did say before, there will be a sequel, so these last 5 chaps are sure to be one hell of a roller coaster. Now then, let's go ahead and get on to chapter 30! 300 reviews and counting!**

**Chapter 30: Elimination Chamber, Part 1**

Randy Orton hopped off of his tour bus, face resembling a very foul mood. Yes, he had returned from injury finally, and last Friday, he took out Jack Swagger with a vicious punt kick to the skull to take his spot in the elimination chamber match. The Viper was all about handling his business now. Unless there was an opportunity to jump ahead of the game, he would think of his own moves to stay ahead of everybody else.

As he entered the arena, he passed by a few stars in the catering room as they watched Alberto Del Rio celebrate his successful World title defense against the Big Show. It was a tough feat to accomplish, yet Alberto had accomplished just that by slaying the giant and forcing him to tap out. Of course, Randy did have plans for that World Title come WrestleMania, but first he had to get through tonight.

Rolling his bag, he used his key to open the door to his locker room. Once in, he tried to flip the switch on, but for some reason it didn't seem to be working. "What the hell? Cheap electricity," Randy muttered. "Can light up a whole damn arena, but can't even light up a locker room."

Still, the light from the hall dimmed into the room bright enough for Randy to make out the two figures of Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. "What the hell are you two doing here?" Randy asked.

Dean smiled creepily. "We're here to collect Randy. It's time to pay what you owe," he said, with Seth nodding. "That's right Randal, we did what you asked of us, and now it's time you took out Del Rio," Seth said.

Randy glared at the two, crossing his arms. "I was getting to that eventually, you know. Don't tell me what to do. By the way, where's your big buff Samoan bulldozer friend?"

"That's none of your business," Seth immediately threatened, unaware Randy was jerking around with his emotions. "Well, are you going to do it? We can make you pay if you don't."

Randy shook his head at the mediocrity Seth seemed to be oozing. It seemed as if he was the most vulnerable-minded of the group. "Consider it done," Randy said. "Now disappear like smoke before I RKO your asses," he threatened, and just like that, the two made their way out.

**Blah Blah Blah Intermission**

Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez made their way down the hall, celebrating like crazy. Now that the Big Show was defeated and out of the picture, Alberto felt like throwing a fiesta. It was the least he could do now that he knew that he was going to WrestleMania as the World Heavyweight Champion.

"Ricardo, it's gonna be a fiesta tonight, amigo. Call everybody, tell them to come join us down the street when the PPV is over," Alberto said in a tired, raspy voice.

"Are you okay boss? Amigo you look tired," Ricardo said, concerned for his boss and friend. Alberto only nodded, shrugging off the concerns, but that was about to be the least of his worries. Turning the corner, stood a very turnt up Viper, who proceeded to clothesline Alberto and throw him into the wall. Ricardo tried to bail out, but Randy hurled a nearby fire extinguisher at his head, knocking the Spanish announcer out.

Randy picked up Alberto, slamming his head on a nearby table with hot food on it, then propped him up on the table, delivering a hanging DDT. He lowered himself to the floor at Del Rio's level and grinned. "So do you feel bad now about getting involved in my business with Sheamus and Kaitlyn?" he inquired with a mad grin.

"Screw you perro," Alberto said, before spitting in the Viper's face. Randy could only shake his head in disappointment. He had that champion's pride, and now that pride of Alberto was about to be his downfall. Randy gave Alberto quite a few European uppercuts, before throwing him into a bunch of freshly loaded crates.

Seeing Ricardo get back to his feet, Randy attacked him from behind. "Ricardo, you look hungry. I heard you like burritos, so I had the cooking staff makes some special just for you," Randy said. Picking up some burritos, he stuffed two in the announcer's mouth, one in the front of his pants, and one in the very back of his pants.

"Eat up bitch!" Randy yelled, punching him in the face and forcing Ricardo to gag on the burritos being shoved down his throat. "Hey! Leave Ricardo alone!" Alberto shouted, but Randy rolled another crate of heavy items towards the champion, keeping him down.

Turning his attention back to Ricardo, Randy proceeded to kick the groggy announcer right where it hurt a man the most. Randy's foot reach was so long that it made both burritos in the front and back splatter. Afterwards, Randy delivered a death-dropping RKO that knocked him out cold.

"Oh damn Ricardo. I think you just burst your burrito," Randy said, stealing a look at Alberto, who had a look of shock and disbelief on his face.

Reaching into the nearby utility closet, Randy pulled out a tank of gasoline, and begin to pour it all over Ricardo's body, looking at Alberto as he tried to get himself from under the heavy crates. Pulling out a lighter, he instantly lit the liquid without a second thought, and now Ricardo was completely on fire like a madman screaming in pain.

"I thought Mexicans liked it spicy. I guess I was wrong," Randy said with a smile, and shrugged. By now, Alberto had finally freed himself, and began to attack Orton with blind fury.

"You perro! You're gonna pay for what you did!" He started to kick Randy ferociously in the gut, where Randy had bruised ribs, but he couldn't let the champion get the upper hand. Reaching back over to the catering table, he grabbed a frying pan and smashed Alberto in the face with it.

"Alberto, let it be known that the Apex Predator is out to get you and hunt down any others who gets in his way," Randy yelled, and rolled him onto the top of the table. Randy delivered a thunderous RKO through the table, breaking it all the way and leaving the Mexican Aristocrat a broken and battered bloody mess.

"All in a day's work. Now, to get to the Chamber match before it starts," Randy said, clearing out before anybody could catch him in the act.

**Chamber Match**

As Randy made his way into the chamber as the final entrant, the entrance music of Smackdown GM Booker T hit the arena airwaves.

"Now hollup just a minute everybody," Booker said, as he took a rolled up piece of paper out of his back pocket. Sheamus' eyes widened, and he stared at Randy Orton, who only smirked back at the Irishman and shrugged his shoulders.

"Now, it appears that tonight there was a backstage assault on the World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio after his title match with the Big Show," Booker said. "He and Ricardo suffered some serious injuries at the hands of some unknown assailant, so due to the severity of these injuries, I had no choice but to vacate the World Heavyweight title," Booker said, a decision that was met with a very negative reaction from the crowd.

"Now, everybody in this chamber match: Orton, Sheamus, Jericho, Henry, Kane and Daniel Bryan, this match is no longer a number one contender's match. This chamber match will now be contested for the World Heavyweight Championship!" Booker announced, the crowd getting to their feet and cheering.

Sheamus, while perfectly fine with competing for the title, didn't want it to happen this way. He knew firsthand as well that Randy Orton was the man completely responsible for this event happening. "Orton, you're a dead snake in the grass," he threatened from inside his chamber pod. Randy walked over to the plexiglass, and smirked at Sheamus.

"Yeah? Well so is your girlfriend once I get through with her," he said, then went back into the ring, leaving an enraged Sheamus beating on the glass.

The match started off with Orton and Bryan, and the Viper made the tag champion take notice of how intent he was on taking home that title. The two traded dropkicks, but Orton got the upper hand with an uppercut out of nowhere, sending him sprawling. Using the cold metal to his advantage, he delivered a devastating hanging rope DDT to the chain linked floor.

Luckily for Bryan, the buzzer went off and Kane stepped out of his pod, intending to deliver a beating. He went right after Orton, blasting him with a big boot and delivering a sidewalk slam. After throwing him in the corner, Kane wanted to do a running clothesline but Bryan stopped him, yelling at his tag team partner about wanting to finish off Randy himself.

Daniel ran and instead of connecting, he ate an RKO off of the rebound and got pinned. Kane didn't even bother helping his partner out. Right as Bryan was eliminated, Chris Jericho came rushing in like a house of fire, hitting Kane with an unforeseen missile dropkick.

Randy slowed him down with a pair of his signature clotheslines, but he went for the third one and missed, allowing Jericho to come off the ropes with momentum and deliver a running bulldog. He then tried for the Lionsault, but Randy put his knees up and countered it.

Luckily Jericho was one step ahead, and instead landed gracefully, attempting to lock in the Walls of Jericho, but Kane delivered a boot to Jericho, knocking him flat to the mat. Kane started to hammer away on Jericho with right hands, but the crowd reaction perked Kane's ears. He looked over to see Daniel Bryan coming back down to the ring trying to get in the ring.

"Leave! You got eliminated goatface!" Kane yelled. Daniel refused to leave though. "NO! You didn't help me! You were supposed to be my partner! I am not leaving!" he argued. Kane threw Daniel the double bird. "Screw you!" he said angrily. As Kane turned around though, he was met with a surprise Codebreaker that allowed Jericho to pin the Big Red Monster. Getting up angrily, Kane immediately chokeslammed Jericho and Orton before stalking off to go find his backstabbing tag team partner.

The buzzer sounded off again and this time Mark Henry came in spoiling for a fight. He crushed both Randy and Jericho with repeated splashes and body slams. "That's what I do!" Henry yelled in their faces, screaming his signature catchphrase. Picking up Randy, Henry threw him right through the plexiglass of a pod as Sheamus looked on with Irish eyes smiling wickedly.

The glass on Randy's back had punctured his skin and he was starting to bleed a bit, while Henry just stood back and laughed. Jericho attacked Henry from behind with a triangle dropkick, sending him crashing into the wall of chain. While the fight was going on, the buzzer sounded off once more and for the final time, allowing the final entrant Sheamus to come out.

The Celtic Warrior broke open his own pod, hellbent on delivering Irish fury. The person he saw was Jericho, and he picked him up to deliver the Irish Curse. Sheamus had his back turned though, and Henry attacked from behind like a steamrolling locomotive.

Looking over to Jericho, Henry's eyes grew angry and he picked up Jericho to deliver the World's Strongest Slam, pinning and eliminating him. "You thought you could beat me? You thought wrong fool! I got a lot left in the tank!" Henry screamed angrily. He did indeed, but would he have enough to see what happened next?

The World's Strongest Man turned around, only to be delivered a Brogue Kick straight to the face. It didn't knock him down, but it did stun him enough as he walked into the waiting and refreshed Randy Orton, who delivered an emphatic RKO to down the giant and pin him.

As soon as the dazed Henry was rolled out of the chamber, that left two superstars: Randy Orton and Sheamus. The two had started rivals, but then after a while, they had become friends in a sort of way, but once AJ came along, all that was thrown away. Sheamus believed AJ was a great person and Diva who had belonged in their group. Randy believed that everything AJ touched turned into bad luck and he didn't want him around her at all.

The two circled the ring, before locking up. Sheamus was fresher, so he won the lockup, throwing Randy down. He was going to make the Viper pay for his transgressions. Delivering hammer after hammer, Sheamus was doing a great job keeping Randy off his feet, but after a dropkick out of nowhere, Randy had the upperhand.

He delivered his patented backbreaker, only getting a 2 count out of it. Randy began tossing Sheamus into the chain-linked walls. At one point, he had him pinned against it as he taunted him about Kaitlyn.

"So, do you think Kaitlyn likes it slow or fast? I was thinking of starting with her breasts. You know, I heard she likes to let her nips slip a lot. That true?" Sheamus roared with rage as he reversed Randy's position as he pressured Randy into the chain-linked wall.

"You say something like that again, and I'm gonna rip you a new one fella," he warned in a low toned voice. Randy only grinned at Sheamus' threats.

"Right Sheamo, so tell me, does she always go for the spear first in bed too? Because I'd like to pounce on that ass," Randy said, licking his lips in malevolent fashion.

Sheamus grew angry to the point where his skin was beginning to completely boil and turn red with rage. Taking Orton, he threw him threw the plexiglass and watched it shatter completely. Afterwards, lifting up one of the chamber floor grates, he pulled out a chair.

Getting in the ring, Sheamus wedged the chair in between the corner, and threw Randy into it with wreckless intent. He delivered a savage Brogue Kick out of nowhere that knocked the living daylight out of the Viper.

He went for the pin, and off of pure instinct, Randy kicked out miraculously. Gritting his teeth and cursing, Sheamus tried not to let his anger get to him. Then, an idea went off in his head. Looking at one of the top of the chamber pods, the Great White climbed the wall and begin to get in position on top of the pod as he eyed his prey.

As he did though, the Shield's music hit the arena and the Shield appeared on the TitanTron, with what appeared to be a Diva being held hostage.

That Diva being the Divas champion Kaitlyn. She was all tied up and bonded to a chair, mouth gagged, as she tried to scream desperately for help.

"Oh hey Sheamus, didn't see you there," Dean grinned, watching the Great White's face go through all the motions.

"We heard that there was a little birdie flying around here, telling everybody's business like there was no tomorrow. Well don't worry, we're about to salvage that problem real soon. Enjoy your match," Dean grinned, and the camera cut off.

Sheamus yelled out a warrior's cry, but what he didn't notice next to him was Randy Orton, now perched on the same pod as him. Grabbing his head, Randy performed a leaping RKO off the top of the pod, and when all was said and done, both superstars were out.

Barely moving his right arm, Randy draped it over Sheamus' prone body and the ref counted to 3.

"Here is your winner and the NEW World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Orton!"

Randy silently cheered to himself as medics and other officials came down to the ring to help him up as the chamber was lifted.

He had succeeded in defeating Sheamus and won the World Heavyweight title, but at what cost? The Shield had ripped him off on his deal. He wanted to deal with Kaitlyn personally, but it looked like the Shield had other plans instead.

The only other question popped up in his head as well: where was Reigns?

**Well that was an awesome and fun chapter to write! I hope you guys enjoyed the Elimination Chamber match as well as Randy's antics in this chapter. Next up, we check in on Reigns' situation and see what's happened to him! Stay tuned! Also, I'll be posting a new catalog of fics I'm working on coming up in the future soon so look out for that. Thanks for reading!**

**-Ronnie**


	31. Elimination Chamber, Part 2

**Next Levellers and all, welcome back to the next chapter of Next Level! Let's keep the ball rolling on the upswing of the Elimination Chamber as we get deeper into the PPV! Here's chapter 31!**

**Chapter 31: Elimination Chamber, Part 2**

John Cena stared into the mirror as calmly and collectively as he could. Weird feelings had been washing over the Cenation Leader and it had started to affect his mental psyche quite a bit. Whether it was hanging out with AJ often or doing activities he normally didn't do that often, it was starting to show in the daily actions that he performed.

Walking out of the locker room, he was surprised to find an enraged Sheamus storming down the hall, breaking damn near every door open in sight. "Where the hell is she? Where did the Shield take Kaitlyn?!" the Great White bellowed at some of the stagehands, even tossing one into the wall. John was very alarmed by the ferocity his best friend was showing and rushed over to his side.

"Yo Sheamo, what happened?" he asked, the Celtic Warrior looking at him very enraged. "The Shield took Kaitlyn fella, and now I gotta find their arses and kick the holy shite out of them before they do any more damage," he said, voice growing lower with each spoken word.

John nodded his head in understanding. "I understand man, but you know that the Shield are only going to be found if they want to be found, right?" he told him.

"AH DON'T CARE! We have to find Kait, we just have to—" he trailed off, and John offered him a reassuring pat on the back.

"Don't you worry about a thing Sheamo. We'll find her, and once we do, we're gonna take it to the Shield and make them pay for all that they've done. Round up a search party, and begin looking, but for right now, I've got to go find AJ and get ready for our match when we team with the Rock to fight the Shield," John said cracking his knuckles.

"You're not gonna let AJ seriously fight them, right?" Sheamus asked, worried John was beginning to lose his mind. John looked at him and shook his head profusely. "No, of course not! She's already been through enough as it is, and I don't need her getting hurt by those wild hounds of all people." Sheamus nodded his head in affirmation. "Glad to hear it fella. We'll be rooting for yeh in yer match, but for AJ's sake, try and get along with the Rock, okay?"

"I won't make any promises, but I promise you two things will happen. AJ will stay safe, and we will break the Shield. I've already heard Reigns is having issues with the group so you'll never know," John said, before stepping out of the corridor and heading straight down the hall. He had work to do, and before he could even think about that title match at WrestleMania, he knew he would have to win tonight, no questions asked.

**Down the Hall Near Catering**

AJ slowly walked down the hall, surveying the scene around her as some of the superstars and Divas were giving quite an odd look. Yes, they had seen AJ crazy before, but lately she had been looking like she was on a new type of crazy, and no one was referring to Jack Swagger's type. AJ knew substance abuse wasn't an answer to any type of situation.

Picking up a couple of protein bars off the table, she began eating and thinking about tonight's match. She was going to be the first ever Diva to compete inside of the Elimination Chamber match tonight. A normal Diva would have been afraid, but after all that AJ had been through lately, nothing really scared or fazed her these days. Not only that, but she had John Cena and the Rock on her side. With people like them, who needed anybody else right?

Vickie Guerrero, who was apparently missing lately due to the crazy extreme circumstances that had been happening on Raw, approached AJ with a scowl on her face. "Well miss little crazy, it seems like you've really gotten yourself into a mess that you can't get yourself out of huh? If only you had just admitted to that scandal in the first place, right AJ?" she said, revealing a witch grin.

AJ got down from the table, and sized Vickie up, smirking at her. "Vickie, when will you learn? Nobody's going to listen to a damn thing you say anymore. Quite frankly, I should thank you. Your idiocy and pessimistic motives helped push together two people who didn't even think they had a chance with each other. You gave me the man that I need in John Cena," AJ said smiling.

"You know that wasn't for that reason! Your reputation should be tarnished by now!" Vickie screeched. "I'm the Queen Diva around here, not you!" AJ only shook her head at Vickie's arrogance.

"You keep telling yourself that Miss Piggy. Everybody loves me Vickie. You tried to turn me into a laughing stock and embarrassing name, but instead you've helped turn me into the biggest Diva household name since Trish Stratus. See, I even got my own t-shirt!" AJ said, pulling out a WWE shop catalog, and showing her her new shirt. "AJ Lee, Love Bites coming soon!"

AJ put the catalog back up, before reaching out and giving Vickie a hug, but Vickie broke out of it, backing away in deep fear. "You really are crazy! I hope you know all you're going to do is drag John Cena's good name into the ground, and the Rock's as well to boot!" she yelled.

"Sure Vickie. Be on your way now," AJ said, tossing a nearby pie from the catering table right into her face, laughing in the process. Vickie shrieked once more, before turning on her heel and storming off completely.

"Bye Vickie! See you in the comic book pages!" AJ called out, while propping herself back up on the table. "You know, if the Rock was here, he would have made a joke with that pie," a voice with a thick British accent said from behind her, strolling through catering and grabbing a drink.

AJ quirked an eyebrow before widening her eyes. "Hey, you're that British Diva from NXT right? Paige, I think it is?" she asked. Paige nodded her head before taking a few gulps.

"Yes, that would be me. The girl who kicked your ass at that house show last week," she said, letting a small smile show that made AJ twist her face and grimace. "You got lucky with that pin Paige. I blame the referee, leprechauns should not be authorized to be officials in the WWE," she said crossing her arms as Paige laughed and sat next to her.

"So I've been hearing quite the tales about you around here lately. I thought my family was crazy, but you…" Paige trailed off at AJ's errant look.

"Don't call me crazy, please and thank you," AJ said, before transforming her face back into a smile as quickly as a Ferrari going 0 to 60 in 2 seconds. "Sorry," Paige said. "Still though, it looks like after all you've been through, you and John Cena have it good, huh?"

AJ nodded her head. "You could say that. That's my baby," she said, mocking a southern Alabama accent, but failing epically. "Once we win tonight, we're going out to celebrate. Then he's going to beat Rocky at WrestleMania, and become the WWE Champion!"

Paige shrugged. "Whatever you say April. Just know that I'm getting called up to the main roster soon, and I do plan on taking over the top spot in the division—" before Paige could continue, loud thrashes and banging noises were heard in a locker room a couple rooms over, and the two Divas immediately lurched up and raced to see what they were.

To their surprise, they saw Roman Reigns duking it out with both Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. The brawl was apparently very brutal and had been going on for quite a while, with the two smaller gaining the advantage on the big Samoan as time had went along. Dean irish whipped Roman into the vending machine, and Seth Rollins did a rebounding dropkick to push him into the machine even more, knocking the entire thing over, as the glass pierced his skin.

Picking up the renegade Samoan, Dean stared him in the face and glared with a sadistic grin. "So you want to go and let your cousin brainwash your mind huh? Talk to other Divas about your problems? You wanna be soft? You're not a hound Roman, you're a little Chihuahua," Dean said, before delivering a Headlock Driver to him straight into the ground.

To make sure that he was down, Seth pulled out a taser and shocked him in the neck. "Believe in the Shield," he said in a low tone. As he stood once more, his attention turned to the doorway, where AJ and Paige stood, jaws hanging open and everything. "Dean we got more company!"

Dean turned his head to the door to see the two Divas still standing there, shocked as hell. "Well, did you two ladies enjoy the show? We're always looking for more volunteers for a sequel," he said, rubbing his hands together. Paige immediately shook her head and began to push AJ out of the doorway. "Go AJ go!" she yelled.

AJ began to run, and tried to pull Paige along, but Dean had already grabbed Paige's leg, and begin to pull her back towards him. "Don't go Paige, we heard you're going to the main roster soon. Stay and celebrate with us!" Dean said, and soon Paige's hand was out of AJ's grasp. "AJ, just run! Go get help!" Paige yelled, before Seth taped her mouth shut. Not even Paige's fiery primal scream could tear through it. With her heart beating fast, AJ broke out into a sprint, trying to look for help in the closest places and spaces that she could find.

**The Rock's Locker Room**

With his Beats By Dre headphones over his ears, blasting out his workout music, the Rock was in a completely different state of mind right now. He came back to become the WWE Champion, and he had accomplished that. However, instead of having a simple title defense at the PPV, he was now teaming with his WrestleMania rival and his girlfriend who was a complete mental case to say the least. He started wishing he hadn't helped them, but then thought better of it. He was the People's Champ for a reason right?

The Rock was so completely zoned in and focused mentally, he didn't even hear his door open, but he did spot the person's shadow however. In stepped the brand new World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton.

The Rock spun around, and with his title on his shoulder stood face to face with his fellow third generation Superstar. "Randy, can't you see the Rock is mentally preparing to lay boots to asses to the Shield? What the hell do you want?" Rock asked.

Randy shook his head, thinking before opening his mouth. "I wanted to talk to you Dwayne. I want in on your Elimination Chamber match with the Shield," he said in a low tone. The Rock just laughed.

"Did you not just get out of one already? You got your candy ass kicked from what I saw, even though you still won the match," Rock added and the Viper nodded.

"Look I just want in on your match. Have them go and substitute someone out of the match," he said rather forcefully. The Rock only readjusted the strap on his shoulder before staring Randy down hard.

"Why Orton? You don't have any angle on this. You got no beef with the Shield jabroni. The Shield, they attacked the Rock during and after his title match. John and AJ, the Shield have been giving them hell for the past few weeks. You? The Rock says he hasn't even seen your candy ass cross paths with the Shield, so why in the bluest of blue hell would you want in on this match?"

"Look, it's for my own reasons, alright? Things have happened, and you don't need to know about them Rocky. Quite frankly, I hope you guys win tonight, but I need to be in the match to make it happen," Randy said. Rock looked him squarely in the eye before deciding on his answer.

"Your answer is a big fat NO, now beat it jabroni," Rock said, ticked off at the Viper. Before the Viper could think about striking down the Great One, the door opened and AJ immediately sped into the room.

"Rocky! The Shield got Paige!" AJ screamed, making Randy's eyes grow wide in alarm.

"Paige?"

**There is chapter 31 for you all! I hope you all enjoyed, so don't forget to review and stay tuned for part 3 coming soon!**

**-Ronnie**


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